a resolution to remember representative marjorie taylor greene from her committee assignments. if final vote is expected around 4:30 p.m. on c-span. on c-span2 at 8:00 a.m., this year's national prayer breakfast. the event will include remarks from members of congress, and president biden, as well as former president's george w. bush and barack obama. at by km, they meet on the budget resolution -- at 10:00 a.m., they meet on the budget resolution. on c-span3 at 10:00 a.m., labor secretary nominee boston mayor marty wall comes before the committee -- marty walsh before

a senate committee. more on the pin of a release plan with representative jason smith, ranking member of the budget committee. ♪ host: good morning. last night, liz cheney survived an effort to oust her from her post after she intended to impeach president trump. marjorie taylor greene held onto her committee post, at least for another day. the developments sent mixed signals about donald trump's continued grip on the republican party. we are getting your reactions. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents.

send us a text. (202)-748-8003. if you do, please send us your name and where you are from. you can catch up with us on twitter @cspanwj and facebook. the lead story in today's "washington times" the front page lead story. democrats plan a house vote today to strip marjorie taylor greene from her committee assignments.

the fight over the freshman converges with an effort by republicans to topple liz cheney after she voted to impeach president trump. the infighting is showing itself after president trump's loss, the front page of today's wall street journal. yesterday, liz cheney making a statement to the press, calling on the party to move forward together. liz cheney, the daughter of the former vice president. >> we have a terrific vote tonight, terrific time this evening laying out what we are going to do going forward as well as making clear that we are not going to be divided and making it clear that no one can pick off any member of leadership.

it was resounding. host: liz cheney retaining her seat as conference chair, the number three republican in the house. it was not particularly close. the secret ballot vote came 145 in favor to 61 wanting to remove her from her position. another vote by the full house today on the topic of whether to remove marjorie taylor greene from her committee positions in the house. hakeem jeffries called on republican leaders yesterday to deal with this internally before it got to the floor. >> kevin mccarthy should handle this problem. marjorie taylor greene is out of control.

as a cue in on caucus leader -- qanon caucus leader, sympathizer, someone who has denied mass shootings with children have taken place, as well as promoted, and apparently embraced, efforts by some to facilitate violence against our legislative leaders. seems to me, the best thing that could happen at this moment is for kevin mccarthy to make clear that she should not be on the education and labor committee. if he does not make that decision, we will be prepared to move forward. let's cross that bridge when we get to it. host: akeem jeffries, yesterday. -- hakeem jeffries, yesterday. kevin mccarthy did not take action to remove marjorie taylor

greene from her assignments on the education, labor and budget committee. kevin mccarthy asked about his non-actions in that committee meeting yesterday after it ended. reporter: why did you make the decision not to remove marjorie taylor greene from her committee assignments? >> ed and labor -- he said that was the complaint they had. i want to be clear. we denounced anything with qanon has no place in our party. marjorie said that today. if that gay people problems -- -- if that gave people problems -- she is a small business owner -- the democrats said no. they will judge her on things, that she has not announced, that

were said before she was a member of congress. swalwell on homeland security and intel? the speaker has that employment. we were down in the skiff. we heard what the fbi report was. no way would i leave him on intel or homeland. i would question whether he should still be a member of congress? maxine waters, as a chair? put that same standard somewhere else. never in the history of congress have people decided what other parties are putting people on committees. reporter: [indiscernible] >> i denounce all those comments brought up. everybody -- she came inside our conference and announced them. she said she was wrong, she has reached out in other ways and nothing she said has been based upon since she has been a member of congress. reporter: [indiscernible] >> the voters decided she could

come and serve. reporter: [indiscernible] >> well -- inside our chambers -- reporter: [indiscernible] >> that is exactly what she did. that is what she did inside our conference. host: kevin mccarthy last night after that house gop conference meeting speaking about marjorie taylor greene, elected in november with 75% of the vote in the 14th district of georgia. during c-span's freshman interview, we do these with all the freshman over the course of the first couple months of any new congress, we sat down with marjorie taylor greene in december, last year, early december, asked her about these concerns about what she has written about qanon. >> you drew national attention for showing support for qanon. i am wondering how you first

knew of the group and why their messages resonated with you at first. >> i support president trump. he was one of the first politicians i felt inspired by when he stood on a stage with, among 17 republicans running for president, and after we elected him, everyone was just thrilled. then we watched the media attack him every single day. the democrats attack him. a whole plan basically launched into action to try to remove him from office wrapped around the conspiracy theory of russian collusion. that was being broadcasted 24/7, day in, day out from the media, was something most americans wouldn't believe, didn't believe and obviously later was proven

to be false. myself, you know, not being a politician or ever having any plans to be one, i did the same thing as millions of americans and looked to the internet of what is really going on. that was where i stumbled across different ideas. i am just the kind of person, i will tell you what i think and feel and things i have read about and i did, i went on facebook and talked about them. a lot of the times i was just talking about the things i read, not necessarily preaching them, like some of these stories have tried to say. you know, i did that. i am a normal, regular person. i also found things i did not think were true. i made a decision to change paths and go, ok, if i want to make a difference, if i really want to make sure we protect our america first values, if i want

to make sure all americans, because we are all equal, maintain and keep our freedoms, then i need to put that into action and not just looking at the internet or talking on social media. that is what i decided to do. that is how i ended up here. host: we expect to hear a lot more about marjorie taylor greene today on the house floor. that vote expected today on removing her from committee assignments, 10 a.m. eastern, just after this program ends. watch it, gavel-to-gavel, on c-span. opening the phones to you about marjorie taylor greene, liz cheney and the future of the republican party. want to hear your thoughts. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. we will start on the line for independents. staten island, new york, john. caller: good morning.

hello? host: you are on air. caller: ethics committee? when swalwell, one pelosi, when adam schiff says something, no one says anything but when a republican says something, everyone explodes. am i right or wrong? liz cheney? [no audio] host: what are your thoughts? caller: liz cheney. no halliburton. no money. no war. liz cheney's frightened. that's it. host: james, lancaster, virginia, democrat. caller: republican.

host: go ahead. caller: yes yes yes. [indiscernible] i have to agree with what the last caller said. swalwell, maxine waters, pelosi. you never hear no apology. the interview with greene in december. you read something, talk about it, discuss it. [indiscernible] just because it is on facebook and other people see it -- that is one of the reasons i am not on facebook anymore -- i don't see how it affects the republican party trump supporters at all. this is being made something of nothing at all. as usual. host: liz cheney, not a trump supporter. are you glad she is still the

number three republican in the house? caller: i am. i support her on her vote to impeach. this is an opportunity to see what went on during the election. i have my own doubts. maybe it will sway me to be a biden supporter or vice versa. show me whether or not it was fraudulent. i would have voted to impeach. just to see evidence. host: conservative website redstate.com. the story today about the liz cheney vote. this is what it says. "the chest puffing will be visible over the next couple

days. expect her grip on power to increase. no one is asking whether it is a good thing for the party given her paltry ability. politics is politics." goes on to write "status quo isn't preferable. she is not particularly good at her job." one of their lead stories on redstate.com. carl, chicago, democrat. caller: how are you doing, john? host: doing all right. caller: the republican party is

morally and politically corrupted. [indiscernible] they are sinking deeper into it. listening to these republican calls -- this is about this woman. [indiscernible] crazy, racist, bigoted people. we have to pretend none of that is going on now. [indiscernible] this party has been compromised. they are morally and politically corrupted. greene is another little donald trump, a crazy person, racist and bigoted. they need to face that. thank you. host: yesterday, in that house rules committee hearing, the ethics committee chairman, ted

deutch, democrat, florida, came to talk about marjorie taylor greene, the effort to remove her from committee posts and past statements questioning school shootings. [video clip] >> it is important for this committee to remember why her conduct is so harmful and so very very dangerous. if greene pedals conspiracy theories and radicalize his people online -- radicalizes people online, they promote harassment, dehumanize and devalue large swaths of our population based on race and faith. last year, fbi director wrey testified conspiracy theories like the ones greene promotes are among the most serious

security threats. she has publicly spouted racist, anti-semitic, islamaphobic garbage and has denied the very occurrence of mass shootings. now. i have cried with the families of parkland and grieved with them. in my wallet, i still, to this day, carry a sheet of paper with the names of their loved ones, so that they are never forgotten in congress. chairman, you have met families, we have all met the families. i want to be clear. here today, i'm here because

alyssa, and martin, and nick, and aaron, and jamie, and luke, and kyle, and gina, and alayna, and helena, and carmen, and peter cannot be. the families are still grieving. as our sandy hook and las vegas and too many more. there are not words in the english language to properly describe how the remarks of miss greene make these communities feel. they are still suffering. they will suffer forever. this makes it so much worse. host: ted deutch, democrat, florida. republican line, thomas, fort lauderdale, florida. caller: good morning. i don't want to say one side or the other was wrong. what i object to is this

conviction from afar kind of a thing going on with the press and everybody else. in other words, marjorie taylor greene, she is criticizing, going after that young high school student. that was awful, i thought. wouldn't it be fair, wouldn't it make a great program, just like you had her on, like on national views, bring her on the program and specify comments she made and ask her -- why did she make these comments? this criticism from afar, i object to that. i watch people criticize donald trump. he is a liar. i have never heard him say a lie! not one!

he was on debates, he was on forums. nobody asked him about a lie. not one. now we have people criticizing -- people who object to the election, object to the machines, object to whether the votes were mass-produced. nobody has inspected these machines. nobody has checked these to make sure if they work! host: do you think marjorie taylor greene should be doing more? she had a twitter page and a large following. should she be going out and doing more interviews and trying to rush this? do you think that would be them right move this week? caller: yes. she should appear on programs. people should designate certain

statements she made and ask her to explain them. if she doesn't have a good explanation, maybe everyone is right. host: yesterday, twitter, marjorie taylor greene focusing on her personal account, also verified, focusing on the fundraising effort happening in the wake of this effort to remove her from committee assignments. two of her tweets from late yesterday after 10:30 p.m. eastern time. the latest fundraising number. $175,000. "they are attacking me because i'm one of you. we will not back down. we will never give up!" she went on to treat one hour later -- tweet one hour later.

"the people have my back and i will always have yours." just a few of her tweets from yesterday. tommy, massachusetts, independent. caller: good morning, john. big fan. i don't know if you saw greta last week, she had a tough week. i love marjorie taylor greene. this pc stuff is going crazy. we are supposed to have the freedom of speech and different opinions. can i ask you a question? do you know who invented the kkk? host: what is the history? caller: the democratic party. the old south was democratic party, racist, lynching blacks. this racist thing -- host: you say you are sick of this pc thing?

part of the discussion happening about marjorie taylor greene specifically is, if elected officials, should they be held to a higher standard and what they say? when it comes to conspiracy theories, should members of congress be held to a higher standard? caller: not really. they are regular citizens. if being held to a higher standard, by the voters of the district, so, i see no problem with that. the caller before was saying people indicting people from afar. absolutely, right on. these democrats, all they do is they go for the jugular. they don't know if they have a fax. representative duech from florida is getting god damn

ridiculous. host: gary, battle creek, michigan. caller: the republican party a huge problem with racism, anti-semitic comments, violent rhetoric and now it is into qanon conspiracy theory. i will quote al gore "the earth is round. elvis is dead. saddam hussein did not attack on 9/11. obama was born in hawaii." the big problem the republican party has accepting defeat in a fair election. joe biden is president. he won the election by 6 million votes. the republican party -- [laughter] -- is not able to deal with facts. host: regardless of how you

feel, some republicans on capitol hill, and the effort to remove marjorie taylor greene from her post have said "be careful what you were doing when it comes to the majority saying what members should have." there could be a situation at some point down the road when republicans will take control of the house. they will point back to this time and say, this democrat and this and this cannot serve on these committee posts. they are worried about the precedent, regardless how you feel about any one of her particular statements. caller: i agree. i do not want to expel her from congress. host: that is not what is going to happen today. the vote is on removing her from two committees. caller:ilan omar apologized publicly. leadership reprimanded her. there was no reprimand from the

republican leadership, there was no retraction or apology from greene. she should be stripped from her committee assignments. i do not think she should be expelled. they do have a right to be represented in congress. the fact there is no public -- these violent threats -- i don't know how you have a person in congress threatening violence -- that the coram is totally -- you know, she probably should resign, right? we cannot force her out of congress. host: gary, michigan. you bring up congresswoman omar. several republicans have brought her up with her past controversial comments. the republicans have focused on one. representative brian babb

yesterday, on the resolution today. [video clip] >> representative greene was not a member of the house when she said many, if not all the statements that led to this course of action. however, representative omar has been sworn in for three months when she said the council on islamic american relations was founded after 9/11 because they recognized some people did something. there are glaring errors here. first, care was founded in 1994. secondly, 9/11 wasn't just something some people did something. it was a brutal murder of nearly 3000 americans by 19 radical islamic terrorists. this very capitol may have been the next target if those terrorists had not been thwarted

by the heroes of united flight 93. making wildly offensive, america as a bad guy rhetoric that representative omar has espoused both before and during her time in congress. the majority is seeking to hold representative greene to the standards of the house rules for her conduct when she was a private citizen but they have said nothing and will do nothing about representative omar's conduct while she has been in office. i don't doubt many of you believe you are defending this institution with this boat. -- vote. if you can prove it by going off the script, this hearing is supposed to follow by voting your conscience to make my amendment in order, please take off your partisan blinders, hold your colic to account for the shameful conduct she has exhibited while wearing one of these pins, and maybe we can talk about ms. greene. host: brian babb yesterday

during the rules committee. the house coming in today at 10 a.m. eastern. gavel-to-gavel coverage on c-span. coming up on 7:30 a.m. eastern, getting your thoughts on a busy day yesterday on capitol hill, especially among republicans. liz cheney retaining her leadership post after an effort to oust her after she voted to impeach president trump and the house vote today on marjorie taylor greene. couple thoughts from social media, using our text service, joe from south carolina saying "no place in our political system. i say that as a republican. she is a major distraction and has to go." "why was she put in a position of losing her job. amazing woman. she should run for president."

michael from portland "the majority is right in trying to remove her from committee assignments. it is more important in the long run. it is the rule of law to govern the governors. like it or not, the majority must not abuse a minority. the problem isn't -- but the emotions of the voters who trust her to faithfully represent them. "tired of republicans being walked on. if alexandria ocasio-cortez and the rest and omar and the rest can spill so much hate, green can fight to make us tougher. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. we take you all the way out to haiku, hawaii. good early morning for you. caller: good morning, john, how are you doing? host: i'm doing good, go ahead.

caller: it seems like the hypocrisy of the republicans is in few -- full view of the public right now. you look back at al franken and katie hill, they had -- it went on for quite a long time. you had multiple shows on them, and all the republicans would call in and condemned them and want to cancel them. now everything you see with the republicans is plain hypocrisy. they are completely hypocritical about everything they say and do . just look what they did with al franken. i mean, his action before he was in congress, all your callers this morning are going on about that, and now the shoe is on the other foot, and they are just

going on and on and on. the simple fact of the matter is that they were the ones who were calling for his ouster, and he -- host: got your point. you talk about the history of what has been happening here, the idea of removing a member from committee assignments also has some historical, recent historical precedent in the house. the wall street journal pointing back to former congressman of steve king -- congressman steve king of iowa, back in 2019 for questioning during a newspaper interview what was wrong with white supremacy. steve king of course losing his primary last year, back in 2020. chris, madison, wisconsin, a democrat. it morning, you are next. caller: good morning, john. thank you to c-span in washington journal. love your show. are you there?

host: yes, sir. what are your thoughts on liz cheney or marjorie taylor greene? caller: i am glad they voted to not lose cheney. she should keep her leadership position, although 61 votes, one third of the caucus, that is disturbing. it was a secret ballot. we will see what happens today when it is public. where they really stand. host: and today the public one will be about marjorie taylor greene and her committee assignment, just to be clear. caller: yeah, marjorie taylor greene. we will see where they really stand on marjorie taylor greene today. that is -- i am guessing --

host: go ahead, finish your thought. caller: i'm guessing they are not going to be so brave to condemn her today, and some of the stuff other people are saying, some of my thunder. -- stealing some of my thunder. host: that happens on a: show. liz cheney, one of the republicans in health -- in the house conference, looking to ouster from her leadership position was former congressman matt gaetz, and it was last week that he traveled up to liz cheney's state of wyoming to call for her, to try to rally supporters to oust her from her

leadership post. this was matt gaetz from last week. [video clip] >> this is my first time in wyoming, and i feel like i already know the place a lot better than your misguided representative. [cheers and applause] my grandfather was a small town mayor and not too distant north dakota. he passed before his time but not for passing into legend, and he passed along a little wisdom to my dad. my old man calls it prairie populism. do right by your people, do not sell out. at never, never let the powerful run over the week -- over the weak. and tell the truth. the truth is that the establishment in both political parties have teamed up to screw

our fellow americans for generations. now, in washington, d.c., the insider club of joe biden, mitch mcconnell, mitt romney, nancy pelosi, and liz cheney, they want to return our government to its default setting, enriching them, making them more powerful at our expense. so we can stop them, and it starts right here in wyoming! [end video clip] host: a week later, that conference vote, the house gop conference vote, liz cheney holds onto her seat by a 145-61 vote among house republicans. among those who voted to defend her about what happened in the

closed door meeting was house minority leader kevin mccarthy. the new york times noting in his defensiveness cheney, mr. mccarthy told lawmakers he wanted their leadership team to stay together. he reminded his colleagues that they elected him as their leader , and they asked him to let him lead by picking his own team. that from the reporting about what happened in that room last night. peter mayer, the republican freshman congressman, among those who also voted to impeach president trump during that house vote just a couple of weeks ago, with his tweet last night after the conference meeting. it was just after 11:30 eastern last night that he said tonight liz cheney faced four hours of blistering criticism and did not yield an inch. we may not always agree on policy but i respect the hell out of leaders like liz, who are unyielding in defense of their convictions. out of binghamton, new york, a republican, good morning.

caller: good morning. i just called in because i find the whole situation extremely upsetting, the fact that there is even any question on constitutional basis or any other basis not to follow through on trump. if i was driving last week and killed somebody, because i am not driving this week, does that not make me responsible? and as far as green goes, she needs professional help. she is not living in a world of reality, and the fact that there would even be the question among the republican senators and house as to whether or not to condemn that, she wants violence, she is not a part of my party. and i am to the point these days where the republicans are such a bunch of cowards.

with liz cheney they were willing and secret to vote their conscience, but if they have to do it public, they become little cowards. they are letting down their oath. host: you say you are upset with republican leadership about this. one of the leaders who came out and criticized marjorie taylor greene's past statements was now minority leader in the senate mitch mcconnell, saying that she has loonie lies and is a cancer on the party. i wonder what you think of his leadership right now. caller:'s leadership right now should have happened a long time ago. the man is the biggest hypocrite. i don't even sound like a republican anymore. i want my party back. the nuclear option -- good for him. what happened when he had to get the supreme court justices, he broke all the rules as far as what he espoused.

there is a lot to make up for, but i do think he is getting on the right track now. host: who do you think should win the nomination for president in 2024? who would you caller: like to see? who would i like to see at this point -- who would you like to see? caller: probably liz cheney. host: minority leader mitch mcconnell and the structure of the senate falling into place yesterday after senators finally , more than a month into the 117th congress, have reached a power-sharing agreement in that chamber. this is the story from today's washington times. that power-sharing agreement, democrats officially taking control of committees. since inauguration day, thanks

to vice president harris' tie-breaking vote, but without the organizing revolution, republicans held chairmanships is a carryover from the previous congress. the power deal, democrats have the rains now. there were negotiations on the filibuster with mitch mcconnell trying to get assurance in a deal that democrats would not use the nuclear option to change the rules. there is no nonnuclear assurance in the power-sharing agreement, but mitch mcconnell pointed to statements from senators joe mansion of west virginia -- joe manchin of west virginia. making a comfortable for him to move forward with the power-sharing agreement, so that officially now in place. frank is next out of florence, oregon, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning, john. i appreciate getting on. i own properties in kevin mccarthy's district, and i am

absolutely disgusted with his behavior in this, with this capitulation to represent -- two representative greene. i am an independent. i have contribute it to ron paul's campaign. i have written out a and gain for justin amash when he was going to run against donald trump. i have contributed against debbie wasserman schultz, against the opponent four years ago, tim canova. i believe in an independent congress, that people can stand up to the courage of their convictions. i am going to send him some money today. host: what did you think about kevin mccarthy reportedly standing up last night and making his defense of liz cheney for her to stay in leadership?

caller: mccarthy is disgraceful, as far as i'm concerned. i'm going to be writing to bigger field california, to talk about what he has done, thickened -- the corruption he has brought to congress. there are a couple of things that your callers have said. one caller said they had never heard donald trump tell any lies. the washington post meticulously documented 30,000 lies that he told in the four years in office. it is staggering. i am an old timer. i was upset when -- with eisenhower when he denied we had sent the u2 to spy over russia. and that was just one lie. president eisenhower did a lot of good things while in office, but what is happening now is disgraceful. it is intolerable, as far as i am concerned. host: frank, an independent this morning. chris, a republican from grass valley, california. good morning. caller: hello, good morning.

so on representative greene, i think it is appalling, especially if her view calling for assassination -- that would amount to, if anything, including a hate crime because it would deprive politicians of their opportunities to be politicians. and liz cheney i think really did an outstanding thing to vote to impeach president trump. after listening to his 1.5 hour march to save america speech -- he called for the action of taking back the government during a period of time the electoral college was in process. it was interrupted, clearly, and i think much of what he stated arouses contempt within u.s. armed forces officers and others. i may be wrong, but that is

against the uniform code of military justice, to have an officer hold a position such as president of the united states in contempt. and i think that the president's speech aroused that. i heard a caller state republicans are such cowards, and that was repeated over and over again i the present. the representatives, the republicans in congress, i wonder if they heard that. because that is just an extremely bad manner of treatment from the president, especially going out. the future of the republican party i cannot speak to on a nationwide basis, but the county where i live, in order for influence to be gained, the republican party and never ada county, california, the need to have -- in nevada county california, will need to have a more liberal scioscia list --

socialist, neocon appeal to the no party preference voters. in addition to also making use of teenagers have a place to register to vote at the age of 15, and automatically are registered for the party that the pre-registered for. so i think the future of the republican party in nevada county is in having a more liberal appeal as a party, whether that is policy or not i don't really know. and also in really making an appeal to younger voters with some substance behind it for when they actually do vote at the age of 18 and the terms of policy. the state only had one county that went toward president biden. his call for unity on the 20th of january i think is strongly relevant to these times. host: chris out of grass valley, california.

this is alonzo out of connecticut. caller: thank you for taking my call. just a reference to mike -- to the comment that you made about holding politicians to a higher standard. i believe that it is all about we hold ourselves to a higher standard. the reason i am saying that is because the individual to put representative green in her position thinks just as she thinks. so the thing is that it is not just about her. she is not the problem. she is just uncovering the problem how we should be holding ourselves to a higher standard. so when you cast your vote, your vote represents how you think as an american. we need to really reflect as americans, not as a democrat, not as a republican, but as an

american, as a citizen. i am a veteran, and this is embarrassing. we are now looked at in the world as used to be the beacon of light. stop being selfish with this stuff and understand that it is not just about your own individual opinions, it affects the whole. host: is there anybody that you voted for that you had some hesitancy for, some moral qualms about? caller: i do my due diligence. the individual who called in about the kkk, what he did not understand is that the kkk came from an area around -- they came into the party because they were getting beat so much by the democrats, so the dixiecrat's came in and infiltrated into the party.

so i do my due diligence. when i make a vote, i am going to do my research and i'm going to use my common sense that god gives me. sometimes if you vote incorrectly, you know next time to vote them out. but my votes or for the whole entire -- are for the whole entire citizenship of america. host: this is ingrid out of pensacola, florida. good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. a lot of intelligent calls coming in this morning, and i appreciate the -- i appreciate that very much on both sides. i think -- i am 71 years old, and i have always been taught that words matter. we are taught values and principles and have a conscience, and we know right from wrong. i don't understand how come some

people -- they know that things are not right, and yet they defend it as free speech. well, words matter. they count. they hurt. it is hate speech, plain and simple. hate speech, and they won't admit it. they won't admit that we had -- well, i am not going to get too political, but they know right from wrong, and they just hide behind this free speech, but it is not all free speech. where held accountable to god and to our country and to our families and to ourselves, and thank, c-span. host: ingrid out of pensacola, florida.

we will head to the op-ed pages, this, the washington post, a column today. get rid of green? what about trump? his column on that. and then from the op-ed page of usa today this morning, the political cartoon focusing on this issue. that would be sarah palin walking into a room and seeing marjorie taylor greene labeled in the television prompter, and sarah palin saying in her head, "what a loon." that is mike thompson's political cartoon from usa today. jennifer, oak park, illinois, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say about marjorie, you know, being on the education department and everyone seems up in arms talking about 9/11, this woman actually believes that parts of

9/11 didn't even happen. she was harassing that cortez after she had just described this shooting, telling them i have a gun? that's terrifying. it even if she doesn't believe it, she is spreading lies, and we tell kids not to spread lies. that's all. host: this is tim out of minneapolis, minnesota. republican. tim, good morning. caller: good morning. first of all i want to point out that the democratic party called -- started the civil war and the ku klux klan. i don't believe republicans are inherently racist, and i don't believe democrats are. if you accuse somebody of racism, they need to be charged and convicted with some type of a hate crime.

so blanket voter intimidation of racism is terrible. ms. greene, i'm not sure what she said or retweeted, but i have seen a lot a video of her saying all these horrible things. i've heard all the things that she has been accused of, but as far as i know, a retweet is the same for them as some type of hate speech. host: what about a facebook posting about something that she read on a qanon conspiracy. caller: if she comments on something, that's fine. is she saying it is factual? is she donating to qanon? maxine waters called for violence against republican members of the trump administration. she faced new committee investigation for that. she was not kicked off anything. i have seen the video, get interface -- getting in their

face at the gas station and the restaurants. but nothing has happened her. everybody says stupid things. if you want to go back and look at everything everyone has ever said, you can find stupid things they said. joe biden gave the eulogy of robert g byrd, a former clan member, member of the united states senate, at his funeral. saying positive things about a clan member is probably closer to white supremacy and racism than anything this woman said. part two, she is a first-year congressperson. she has a history, i think we all do, of seeing foolish things. let's see what she is like after five or six terms. she will probably keep her mouth shut and be better. from the interview i saw, she was a regular person who ran for office who has probably commented and said stupid things. host: i don't know how helpful it would be for us to run through it all right now, but new york magazine, the natural

issues column had a wrap up of some of her past comments, and in that you can see her facebook postings about some qanon conspiracies. there is one, a long posting on it if you want to read it. some of what they found from past postings. sounds like you are interested in looking specifically at what she said, not what has been written about what she said. take a look at that article. walter in albany, georgia, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i am continually hearing this is not who we are, and it bothers me, because it is who we are. we need to recognize that. furthermore, it is a simple answer -- not an answer but an observation to what is going on.

the chickens are coming home to roost. simple as that. we have put things on people and nations and countries and forced opinions for years. now it is time that the chickens are coming home. host: bradley, prince george, virginia, good morning. caller: good morning, john. thank you, c-span, for taking my call. it is an honor to be on your airwaves. this is a very interesting topic, and i have enjoyed the conversation this morning. first and foremost, i would like to commend representative greene on even being in congress. she is the first republican female to be elected to a full term, if i'm not mistaken. however, back to her rhetoric, the buildup to her campaign, i would hope that she was just being a politician and was just trying to get votes, but of

course if she stands by some of the qanon -- i find qanon quite laughably outrageous, so if that is what she really believes, i certainly hope that folks in the 14th district in georgia will see through that and voter out in a couple of years. host: would you say just being a politician, trying to get votes -- is it ok for a politician to say anything, to just try to get votes? caller: absolutely not. if you are advocating violence and calling for the beheadings of your opponents or anything like that, i absolutely vehemently believe that behavior is unacceptable. much like steve king, and it is good that those folks in iowa, i think it was, voted him out as well. host: that is bradley, prince

george, virginia. good morning. caller: howdy. yes, i think it is a bunch of jokes about what they did with trump. they have something against her to get her out of office, that's what i think. host: any thoughts on liz cheney, the number three in the republican conference who in voted that who voted to impeach president trump but kept your position last night? ceco i think that's a joke, too. -- caller: i think that's a joke, too. i watched the whole thing when she was talking and everything else. my opinion, they did trump wrong, they are trying to do margaret greene wrong.

they want to run everything, the democrats. i think they need to back off everything. if they cannot do the job, they ought to be voted out. host: less call from marietta, georgia. independent. caller: good morning, john. for me, i am an independent because i see the hypocrisy of democrats and republicans. when i look at people in congress, i see them all lying and being deceivers. as far as ms. greene, it is up to her constituents to voter out, not the congress. liz cheney is one of those who are about war, and i think what they did with her in having those people -- i think that is cowardly. that is pretty much how it works in the congress, whether you are in the senate or in the house,

that they do things or they make decisions in a cowardly way. as far as what has been said maxine waters said for democrats to get in republicans faces and push back and do those sort of things. when i heard her say this as a black woman, if someone was to get in my face like that it would get physical. to me, that is just as bad as what trump said on january 6. host: our last color in this first segment of "washington journal -- last caller in this first segment of "washington journal." we start with barbara lane, later we will be joined by the top republican on the budget committee, jason smith. i want to show you the front

page of "usa today" the headline we will never forget. one of the scenes yesterday from the capitol rotunda, that memorial service for the fallen u.s. capitol police officers. we want to show you a little bit from yesterday's memorial service. >> internal god, for whom no dawn arises and no evening sun sets. we turn to you for light when our minds are dark. and for strength when our days are long. we honor you for the life of officer sicknick. a hero proved in liberating

strife. lord, ryan indeed more than showed his country love and mercy more than life. bless those who fought for freedom with him. prepared also to give their last full measure of emotion, comfort the sicknick family. comfort all of those who mourn. help us see death as you see it, not the end but the beginning. not awol wall, but a door. not a dark road, but a path that leads to internal light.

may officer sicknick's sacrifice prompt us to ensure conceived in liberty will have a new birth of freedom. granted that our eternal vigilance will keep this government of the people, by the people, and for the people. safe and secure. we pray in your sovereign name amen. >> "washington journal" continues. host: happy to welcome back barbara lee, house democratic leadership on the steering committee and the appropriations and budget committees.

your first appearance on this program way back in 2003 when you came on to talk about the progressive agenda. in 2021, what is the progressive agenda today? guest: an agenda that speaks to the aspirations of the american people. when you look at reducing and eliminating poverty, when you look at income inequality and racial justice. when you look at $15 minimum wage. people living on the edge as the progressive agenda has included four years. raising the minimum wage so people could really sustain their families in terms of economic security. we have to move to a living wage.

we always supported making sure that global piece of security was the same through making sure we reduced our defense spending where we ensure our national security. put more resources into building schools and transit system, infrastructure, good paying jobs. we always fought for a universal health care for everyone. we fought to make sure that corporations don't continue to get these huge tax cuts that take away resources from working men and women. we thought from day one to make sure that climate change was part of our democratic caucus agenda. we've got to do something on climate. this is an emergency. in many ways, the progressive agenda has set the standard for

what we have been providing liberty and justice for all. everyone had the opportunity to live the american dream. host: president biden made unity the key theme on day one. are you worried that parts of that progressive agenda you just laid out bite be sacrificed on the altar of unity? guest: i'm not. i have to tell you, i believe in unity. i also believe that before you could have unity or reconciliation you have to have the truth. we can congress give those frameworks that we could establish so the facts are put out there. for an example, i'm working with senator booker on establishing a commission of truth with racial dealing and transformation. all part of that is repairing the damage as it relates to the

african-american communities. we have to make sure we put the truth out there. that will allow the american people to understand why african-americans have been fighting so hard for their rights. understand why systemic racism is manifested. black and brown people dying from covid. we have to put it into a historical context where we tell the truth. i don't believe they are mutually exclusive. the president has called for unity. i think he is also based on his executive orders and agenda, justice is required and the truth about what has taken place in so many people's lives in america must be told. we can't move towards unity

without understanding what the truth is for so many people who have been shut out. host: barbara lee with us to the bottom of the hour. republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. as they are calling it on joe biden's agenda, the main focus is moving a one point $9 trillion covid relief package. to think that is enough? guest: we can't wait, we are in a state of emergency. $1.9 trillion really is a rescue package to keep people from falling off the edge. we have included this package making good on a promise of $2000 cash payments, we put in

an additional $1400. i would like to see $2000 a month recurring until the end of the pandemic. with this proposal at least people will have the 1400 cash payments. we added the expanded and enhanced unemployment insurance. people need this. they need these resources. schools need to open. we put money into make it safe for our children, support staff, maintenance staff, and schools. our kids deserve to be educated. they will fall behind. they don't have the requisite education. we have to get our schools open. small businesses are going under. black and brown businesses, which have been hit hardest because of systemic racism. we want to make sure our small businesses get the resources they need to provide during this

period. we have money for vaccine distribution, contact tracing, testing. when you look at what has taken place with the distribution of the vaccine with availability, my goodness. the last administration made a mess of this. so many people died because they were not able to get it right. the biden administration is trying to not only repair this damage but to move forward so everyone has access to the vaccine. african-americans, asian-pacific americans, this is where the pandemic is where we have targeted resources in this package. it is important that this path, this $1.9 trillion will put

forth the budget shortly to take care of our long-term needs. finally, let me just say janet yellen and all of our economists, we have to do this. if we don't do this more people will fall into the ranks of the poor. more people live in poverty now. we have to do it because we have to turn this economy around and create jobs. if we don't do it we will lose more jobs. we must do it, it is a state of emergency. i'm working very hard with my colleagues. host: plenty of colors. this is david on the republican line. caller: my first question is did systemic racism exist when obama was in for eight years and did you ever use that term during that eight years?

my second question is the correctional budget office says a $15 minimum wage will eliminate 3.1 million jobs. when you advocate for this, what you are really doing is closing off opportunities for most skilled workers to even get into the latter of jobs. you don't seem to have any concern about that at all. caller: -- guest: $15 minimum wage, it is gradual. no one could live off of $7.25 right now. you could increase the minimum wage to $15 to create jobs. not to lose jobs. it creates resources for our economy to move forward. the data shows that you raised

in wage -- the minimum wage, their workers who are productive, want to stay on their job, and will contribute back into the economy. we have to get to the $15 minimum wage. with regards to systemic racism, the answer is yes. since i was a child we know that as african-americans, slavery led to lynchings, jim crow, mass incarceration, e -- unequal treatment. embedded in all of this is systemic racism. african-americans have only used it recently because of the murders of george floyd and other african-americans have been visible through social media.

others are beginning to understand what we have talked about during president obama's administration book prior to that. now i think the country is beginning to wake up and understand what systemic racism really is. host: in north carolina, this is sean, a democrat. caller: i have seen the ku klux klan, i have seen flags burnt, i have been run out of areas where we weren't supposed to be. trump is nothing but the antichrist and everybody that follows him are uneducated people. now they don't want to know about our history. yes, it is bad. right here where i live in the

state, we are seeing hell out and about. yes, it is racism. host: congresswoman. guest: i think you laid out what systemic racism is. it may not be seen by everybody but it is in our lives each and every day when you look at the lack of access to clean water and the covid pandemic. systemic racism, how would you look at the wage gap, the wealth gap. when you look at the unemployment discrimination and the employment sector. when you look at each and every aspect of education and transportation, systemic racism

is the central aspect of this entire system. it's gotta be dismantled. racial equity and racial justice efforts proposed by the biden administration is a good first start. we have to move forward. we have to have the true telling . we have to talk about how we repair the damage that has taken place over generations. african-americans don't have the wealth that has been acquired over the generations to leave for their children during -- due to discrimination and how it goes on and on about this. you're absolutely correct. we feel it and live it every day. host: columbia, maryland, independent line. caller: i really appreciate you lining up those facts. number one, please do not fall

into the trap of getting into the republican house, how they choose who should be in the committee. it will backfire on a democrat. i also believe only talk about telling the truth, recognize that people who are listening to alternative media see those facts as false. how do we determine what real facts are when we have these alternative facts? guest: determining real facts in this day and time when there are so many conspiracies, lies, so much misinformation being disseminated, we have to do our own research. we have to research our own and we have to determine what is truth and what is not truth.

there are some organizations that have been around for years. you look at the naacp. you look at the national urban league. you look at many of our communities of color, they put out the facts. they tell the truth. it is incumbent on us to seek out the facts because of the distortion of the truth at this point in time. with regards to committee expulsion, chairman mccarthy needs to do his job. he removed steve king because of his white supremacist behavior and attitude, he should have removed marjorie taylor greene. someone who has actually threatened violence. he should have acted. if he would not act, we must act. host: are you worried about calling it a trap vote, if you do this today republicans on the road will retake the house?

guest: they may but it is not a trap vote. in terms of the violence and the environment that we are operating. anyone here who is this type of a physical threat and has made the outrageous statements should not be on the education and labor committee. host: philip, you are next. caller: thank you. two things, we all need to get along, period. no one is better than anyone else. people that try to work should work, people that don't, don't. everyone is the same no matter any of the variables. another thing, the truth.

don't badger around what the truth is. those that don't should be given or modifying it for political change. i see people spouting off what they believe the truth is but they know it is not. last thing, 72 million people are still seeking what the real truth is no matter what has been said hero there. a complete expose needs to happen on what the real truth is , not what people say it is, thank you. host: congresswoman. caller: we need to know the truth -- guest: we need to know the truth about everything. because of the distortion and lies perpetuated by those who don't want to tell the truth. going back to why i want to establish a racial healing

committee. with the history and context of systemic racism is denied. we have to put the facts out there. we must do that by having a national effort to tell the truth about the issues with racial injustice and racial inequity and why we need to move forward to prepare the damage based on the historical context of the truth of what took place 400 years ago. host: 10 minutes left, we have congresswoman barbara lee. we will come back to your work on the budget and appropriation committees. c-span viewers very familiar with the u.s. debt clock. today it is at 27 trillion plus dollars. when you say things like you would prefer to thousand dollars a month recurring payment for americans, when should we worry about those taking numbers? guest: this was a state of

emergency. we have to worry about the american people. they are living on the edge. we have to worry about their lives right now. when you look at the debt clock. we don't have to address the debt and deficit. we need to repeal those tax cuts for members of the republican railroad interest. these tax cuts are many ways responsible for the debt. not providing the american people a lifeline. we have to look at what has taken place and go back to the drawing board. the balance in terms of our economics, and terms of the corporate sector. very wealthy people don't continue to get the brakes and resources which take away from the deficit. they are all turned upside down in terms of priorities.

part of the deficit, you are looking at a military budget, pentagon budget of $740 billion. we have assessed this, myself and the corrections office, a 10% cut, which would not tamper with our national security at all. it would not hurt our troops but in fact help our troops. it would maintain our global leadership. that is $74 billion. that could go into making sure that health care, housing, transportation, covid relief and all of the accounts that all of the strategies and budget priorities that people need. we would put people first with the $74 billion. we need to look at how the deficit is created. it is not created by helping americans survive through the

pandemic. we need to give them the resources so they could have a little bit of money to spend. so they could provide and help businesses as consumers. this is not going to be the driving force of any deficit in this country. it is basically the huge tax giveaways and tax cuts we have given to corporations as well. host: in a, texas, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. everything you said is exactly what i want to say, without question. that is the truth. they all begin with one thing. give too much to the really rich and very little to the little people on the bottom.

if we just took a little bit, we would be in a situation where we could help all of the people from the top down. economics should not work trickle down, they should work up. guest: you just explained it. you said it very well and very eloquently. you are right, trickle-down economics, reaganomics did not work. it created more deficit spending more poor people. it created more homeless veterans. trickle-down economics has got to go in many respects. we have to be fair in our economic system. we need to find ways -- we do have a just system where economic inequality, racial inequality where those gaps are closed. right now they are increasing. host: this is minneapolis,

cameron, an independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i was calling today wondering about biden's call for unity and whether or not you think it would affect covid relief specifically. are we seeing from some republicans in both the house and senate calling for spending $618 billion. that is compared to the 900 billion dollars that the democrats proposed. i'm rambling. what i'm asking you is whether or not you think biden's call for unity is going to affect covid relief in the end? guest: i don't think it will affect -- this call for unity.

we have to remember. i'm reminding you it is not only democrats who are dying and getting sick. the republicans, independence, green party, everyone in this country is getting sick. if we don't do what we need to do to mitigate against the pain-and-suffering people are feeling. we have to address people's lives in terms of the transmission of the virus that is occurring as a result. we have to get the facts out and get them distributed equitably. we have to make sure the economic relief, the $1400 -- the enhanced unemployment insurance, resources, we have to make sure our state and local government could fund it. we have to continue to provide the essential services. all of this was republic's

consent -- republicans constituents. it should create more unity because the biden-harris administration are fighting not only for democrats but republicans, independents, green party members, those who aren't registered to vote. they should see this as a push towards creating more unity rather than something that would take away from unity. i know the biden-harris administration is. host: in washington, this is jp caller: i have a question for the congresswoman. the 119 truth -- $1.9 trillion stimulus, concerns with welfare for the american people, the last two included the dependence that are 17 years old and older. will this package include them? if not, should we be concerned

about their population? guest: i will double check and give you this package -- the information but i believe this package includes benefits that would cover those who are 17 years and older. the prior package did include something for children. i'm not sure what that age level was or age grouping was. i'm pretty sure this package does. host: running low on time but i wanted to ask about the vote you made back in 2001. the only member to vote against the authorization for use of military force after the 9/11 attacks. we are still fighting that today. explain how? caller: with that, authorization was 60 words. it was a blank check to give

any president the authority to go to war forever. that sets the stage for these forever wars we are in now. and over trillions of dollars international treasury -- in our national treasury. we have bipartisan support to take away those authorities to say that no more shall the authority of 2001 be used, used for or for any other purpose, the president deems he wants to use. it has been used in yemen, somalia, it has been used over 41 times, which have nothing to do with 9/11 and the horrific attack as it relates to what took place with al qaeda.

what we have to do is restore congress's constitutional responsibility and duty that when the president wants to use force, besides from an imminent threat, he or she has that authority. the president must come to congress and we must debate the fact that war and authorizations for the use of force are not per our constitution what congress must do. i am continuing to do this. we almost got it done last year, but we had donald trump and mitch mcconnell in the republican senate, who actually once the bills got over there, they took that out of the defense authorization bill, so the political will in the senate has not been there, but the american people are more leery. they want these resources. you talk about the deficits and

debts, resources are used to maintain a strong national consensus, but we are out of balance. these authorizations from the 2001 and 2002 iraq resolutions, they both need to be repealed. they will not leave our troops vulnerable because we give over eight months while the authorizations are still in place for congress to come up and debate another one, if in fact we think they are warranted. finally, i will say the resolution of 2001 to three days after the horrific, terrible attack, and three days was not sufficient time to be focused and make sure that our response was appropriate to what had taken place. i am giving eight months for congress to debate and come up with a result in terms of where we should spend our troops and authorize war, when we should

use force or not. so the people of this country have demanded that congress do their job. right now, congress is not doing its job on behalf of the american people because we have given that authority to the president, and that authority has got to be taken away and put back into the people's power. host: congresswoman barbara lee, democrat of california, member of the appropriations and budget committees, always appreciate your time for caller." guest: my pleasure. happy to be with you. host: next, we will talk to republican congressman jason smith of missouri. we will be right back. ♪ >> are live coverage of confirmation hearings continues for president widens nominees -- president biden's nominees. today at 3:00, secretary of labor nominee.

watch the confirmation hearings live on c-span3, stream live or on-demand at c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. the senate impeachment trial of former president trump begins tuesday, with senators deciding if the former president should be convicted on incitement of insurrection. watch our live coverage of the senate impeachment trial starting tuesday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two, c-span.org, or listen live on the free, c-span radio app. if you miss any part, watch anytime on demand at c-span.org /impeachment. listen to c-span's podcast, the weekly. this week, the paris agreement. 3.5 years after president trump withdrew, president biden's executive order for the u.s. to reenter the executive treaty. dan michael's explains the paris agreement and how it is viewed

worldwide, and what is next for the united states. >> the first challenge would seem to be when he meets his counterparts to discuss the paris accord is rebuilding u.s. credibility. no one will doubt he carries credibility on this pretty helped write the paris accord. no one will doubt president biden's sincerity, but the u.s. as a whole, probably europe and others will be looking at it to see if the u.s. is really going to take measures that will address climate change and also commit money to helping other countries address climate change. >> kind c-span's weekly, where you get your podcasts. ♪ >> booktv on c-span2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. coming up sunday at noon eastern

on in-depth, a live conversation with author robert mary, editor-in-chief and ceo of congressional quarterly. his most recent book is " president mckinley: architect of the american century." other books include "where they stand," "a country of vast designs," and "taking on the world." join the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. before the program, visit c-spanshop.org to get your copies of his books. on afterwards at 9:00 p.m., an investigative journalist on her book "made in china: a prisoner and sos letter and the hidden cost of americans chief goods." she is interviewed by the assistant director of princeton university center on contemporary china. watch booktv this weekend on c-span2. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: during a weekend when we are talking about budget and spending, we are glad to welcome the inking member of the house budget committee, congressman jason smith. on another $1.9 trillion in covid relief spending, do we have as a country the budget for that level of spending? guest: let's just think about it this way, if you count the $1.9 trillion that is included in the budget solution, along with the over $4 trillion spent in the last 11 months, that is $6 trillion. divide that by every american who comes to roughly $17,000 per american. a family of four is $70,000. that's $6 trillion is more money spent in 10 democrat leaf than the gdp of every country except for china and the united states.

that is a lot of spending. host: do we need to spend anything more in your mind when it comes to covid relief? guest: we have over $1 trillion that have yet to be spent from that for trillion dollars that has already been spent. i truly believe we can just readjust that $1 trillion to make sure it is spent in the most appropriate way to provide for vaccines, health care needs, ppe equipment, and make sure we are helping those small businesses suffering so much. we have over $1 trillion out there. let's use that money to provide the needs necessary. host: for those callers and democrats who are saying there needs to be another direct stimulus payment for americans suffering in this country, do you think they need another round? guest: like i said, there is

over $1 trillion that has been appropriated that hasn't been spent, so if you are going to be using any money, use the money that has already been spent and just readjust that for who needs it the most. whenever i am talking to the people all over the united states, what they want more than anything is for their schools to open and for their jobs to be able to operate. these small businesses are tired of lockdowns. we have learned in the last 11 months using the appropriate science that has been before us, along with the right safety tools that we can have, you can operate the schools, the small businesses freely and safely, so let's get people back to work. host: republican congressman jason smith with us until the top of the hour this morning. you can join the conversation by calling the phone lines, (202)-748-8001 for republicans.

democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. we mentioned your work as the top republican on the budget committee. why do we have budget reconciliation? guest: budget reconciliation has been around for several decades, and it is a tool within the budget process that is used to address revenues, spending, and debt. after you pass a budget resolution. but the reconciliation instructions do not come about until you pass a budget resolution. it is interesting because the majority party, the house democrats, did not even file a budget resolution and the entire last congress. it has been over 700 days, even though by statute, you are supposed to pass it right april 15 of every year. in fact, the president is supposed to provide a budget to

congress by february 1. yes, we still have not received a budget from the president for fiscal year 2022. what was passed on the floor yesterday evening was in fact a budget resolution for fiscal year 21 because -- well, the democrats in the last congress did not pass on. it is interesting. you are passing a budget resolution for appropriations that was already spent for the year, so you are doing a budget for what money has already been spent. they are only just doing it, and that is what i call it a shall budget, to bring forth the reconciliation instructions were the only need 51 votes in the united states senate to pass the items they wish to put on there. host: is it time to do away with this process? guest: reconciliation has been used in good ways in the past to

help address mandatory spending to pay down on debt. you saw tax cuts that were done with it. it is a process. what i have a problem with is for the first time in the history of this country, the house democrats refuse to allow the budget resolution to go into the budget committee. any budget resolution that has ever originated in the house of representatives has always originated in the house budget. the house budget has not even been organized by nancy pelosi in the house them. that is unacceptable. if you are going to use the tools in your toolbox within budget reconciliation, use the rules that have been in effect since 1974. unfortunately, the rules are only used by the majority party if they see it favorable in their outcome. host: we spent the first hour of

our program talking about that republican conference meeting late yesterday, that vote on liz cheney, and then there's floor vote that will happen today. can you give us -- and then this floor vote that will happen today. can you give us any insight and how did you vote on keeping liz cheney is the number three republican of the conference? guest: you never want to talk about the discussion that was in the house republican conference, but i will say it was a good family discussion. that is exactly what it is. we had several issues we wanted to address as a republican conference. it was a good discussion. people have their voices heard, and came to a decision. and we are going to move on. our conference is more united now than ever before. the house democrats would love for us to be divided so it distracts from -- in fact, what they are doing, the 47 plus executive orders or executive memorandums that president biden

has done that has caused millions -- cost millions of working class americans their jobs. in the stroke of a pen, president biden has fired more americans than what you could possibly imagine. what president in their first three hours in office fires 100,000 americans? these are blue-collar americans who are now wondering how they are going to pay for their mortgage, how they are going up provide food on the table for their families and kids, but he did the stroke of the pen to reward his liberal base. host: is it a good thing liz cheney is still the number three republican in the house to mark guest: it is -- house? guest: it is a good thing we had a strong family discussion and came to a decision. host: in arkansas, republican. caller: this is kotten country -- cotten country.

i have a suggestion, the spending at the current levels, no increases. next year, 1% lower, next year, 1% lower. act like you are a regular people. you cannot keep printing money. it is a funny situation we have. you guys borrow money and in debt me, my kids and grandkids, and give it away to foreign countries as if it is plain money, monopoly money -- play money, monopoly money. my seven-year-old grandson, we were playing monopoly, and he landed on pay $75 income tax. he said, what is that? i said, it means if you work hard, the government will take it and give it to somebody else. he said, darn, i just earned that money. he said, do i have to pay? i said, yes, or they will come get you. you guys explained too much money, and you have too many people -- guest: before you go, who won

the game? caller: hated did, he was the banker and everything. he makes -- he did. he was the banker and everything. he makes all his own rules. we turn it into a math game. host: get him next time, keith. congressman? guest: there are too many people who like the land on free parking -- like to land on free parking. whenever you talk about the physical house of the united states, what i like to put -- fiscal house of the united states, what i like to put into perspective is, ok, this is the fiscal house of the united states by taking away a lot of zeros so that americans can put in reality of what we are spending and how much debt we have. imagine you spend $60,000 a year, but you only make $30,000 a year right your job, but you

have $280,000 on a credit card. that is in fact the fiscal status of the united states of america. as you know back home, you can't serve it that way. that means we spent $6 trillion last year. we brought in roughly $3 trillion. and we have $28 trillion, roughly, of national debt. you can't hold up to it. i totally agree with the gentleman from arkansas. i do want to point out that southeast missouri, where i represent, it has a lot of quality cotten. that is our farmers taking care of people in god's country. host: keith in toledo, ohio -- heath in toledo, ohio. caller: we have been spending an extra trillion basic the last year -- for the last 25 years. i don't even think we were at

one trillion in reagan's term. in 20 something years, we basically ruined our country. i heard someone the other day say we need to start paying the debt. we will never pay down the debt. let's be real. this will never be paid down. the only thing we are trying to do is not incur more. we are done. this country is done. there was going to be a global financial meltdown. i don't know when it is going to happen, but it is going to happen. guest: it was alarming to me yesterday when we were debating the budget resolution on the floor that my counterpart said not one american has ever had to pay the debt of the united states. i certainly disagree with that because every year we have to pay the interest on the debt. last year alone it was almost $400 billion just interest on the debt we had to pay. guess what? if you pay taxes, it is going toward that interest.

the fact that we are not paying down the debt and we are just paying interest to stay afloat is very unfortunate. we have a problem, not a revenue problem. we have to hold the lines of spending and help for this economy. we are in a mess. host: in tennessee, a democrat. good morning. you are next. caller: good morning three how are you all doing? host: doing well, vivian. caller: i am calling to say they talk about the debt. look at what trump and the republicans did last year. spend. the millionaires and billionaires got away without paying taxes. if you are going to be honest up there talking, the republicans went along with everything trump pointed, including -- we would not be in these situations if trump had told the american people about the virus instead of lying.

he sat up there and lied and said it was a hoax. and then you talk about the budget? you all spend money overseas -- send money overseas to while people here are starting. another thing, you are talking about opening up the schools. how are you going open up the schools one half of the people don't have a place to stay? where are the children going to go to? host: a couple of topics there. guest: the anger that came from this caller is the anger that i hear all the time talking to people across america. they want their schools open, and cdc has said it is a safe way to have the schools open, and that we need to reopen. in the long term, it is best for all kids, all americans. when you are talking about spending, there is a spend problem in both parties. republicans and democrats. there is no question about that. you can look at my voting record and see where i have stood on a lot of items, and you can see that i have in trying to push our fiscal house in order.

the reason why i came just in the last few months to try and be the republican leader of the budget committee because we have to put our country's finances front and center so that people know exactly what kind of spending problem we have. but, if you just look in the last four years during the trump administration, say the president may have offered $1 trillion in covid stimulus, the democrats want to $3 trillion. of course, there was a lot of spending, but there would have been a whole lot or spending of the democrats controlled the white -- a whole lot more spending if the democrats control the white house the last four years. host: david, maryland, independent. caller: good morning, congressman. i wrestle with this question all the time about, you know, whether or not america truly does have to go through an economic collapse in order to wake up and support moving on to

something that will control congress because both republicans and democrats have a problem. with rand paul at some point moving back to a gold standard or something, it could limit our congress from spending and spending and spending. and a lot of the people don't realize that even though the fed is just adding to its balance sheet, it is devaluing the dollar. although you are not taxing us, you are taking away our purchasing power, and the purchasing power of our children. you know, it is getting to a point where it is unacceptable. i think part of the solution may not be as -- because you are not going to go back to a gold standard or something like that, but we need to educate people young. i wish that somebody had taught me about finances when i was in middle school, when i was in elementary school.

i have done very well, but i think that the public education system should teach personal-finance because it is ridiculous that even before the pandemic, 50% of americans did not even have $1000 in the bank account. their minimum wage is not going help if they cannot save now. once they get more money, they are going to blow it again. a lot of it is americans' personal responsibility , too. people spend more than they make. i save more than 60% of my income that i put in retirement accounts. i know social security will likely not be there for me. i'm doing what i can to protect myself. but it hurts us, the people responsible, when donald trump adds $7 trillion to the debt, barack obama as a trillion dollars to the debt. god knows what biden is going add, certainly more than trump. host: we can let the congressman

respond, and i can show viewers this chart from the department of treasury, u.s. debt over time from 1990 to 2020. as viewers take a look at that chart and that line that goes upwards and upwards, congressman smith? guest: i will say there was a lot of items the caller brought forward, but making sure that the younger generation understands the value of the dollar goes a long way. whether it is learning while in high school or whether it is just a small business they have. i can tell you the best experience i have or had was mowing lawns -- i ever had was mowing lawns and grade school and high school. i saw at the beginning was the most disturbing was that my mom or dad would take out a couple of dollars for driving me to go mow that lawn. i thought that was the most unfair aspect of it, but it taught me quickly that, you know, there is cost for earning

that dollar, and sometimes you need to have it hit you straight out. my parents, that lesson when i was really young. it was really helpful. it is the importance of the value of the dollar for all americans. think about it, that $28 trillion is roughly 80, 80, 80 $2000 of debt each american has -- $80,000 to $82,000 of debt each american has. when you look at what congress needs to pay attention to, and is to be more transparent. the fact to get these huge spending bills that are dropped 35 minutes in the rules committee and then you vote on them within a couple of hours and it is 3000 to 4000 pages, how do you really know where that money is going until after it is voted on and it becomes law? that is unacceptable. i think the american people want more of a transparent process so

you can go with a fine tooth comb to see that money is going to countries that are in our flags -- that burn our flags or money we don't want people -- or money going to people we don't wanted to. that is what we have to be looking for. host: maryland, lee, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span, congressman. thank you for coming. congressman, the only president in recent memory to balance the budget and get a federal surplus was william jefferson clinton. the only one. the republicans are the ones who have driven up and bankrupt the united states with that. reagan increased the debt a great deal. bush junior and bush senior both increased the debt and or mislead.

trump had trillion dollar deficit as far as i could see before the coronavirus -- as far as the eye could see before the coronavirus. why is it the republican party used to be responsible but now is the party of bankrupting the nation in debt? host: congressman smith? guest: i would like to highlight that you are correct that under president clinton, we did have balanced budgets, but the only reason president clinton had balanced budgets is because we had a republican-controlled house and senate. i remind you of the name of speaker newt gingrich. he is the one who made sure that for multiple years, there was a balanced budget put on the president's desk. he either had to sign or veto it. of course, he signed it. so the republicans delivered a balanced budget those years. hopefully, in the next two

years, we will be firing nancy pelosi and chuck schumer, and have a republican house and senate. we will try to put that on biden 's desk, but our fiscal house is so out of order right now -- i don't know when we get to the point that we actually can balance a budget because of the disaster that we are currently in. host: coming up in about one hour, the household gaveling for the day. -- the house will gavel in for the day. one issue is the boat to strip congresswoman marjorie taylor greene of georgia with the republican colleagues of her committee assignments. your thoughts on that process and how it plays out is to mark -- plays out. guest: i brought up newt gingrich the other day. if nancy pelosi of the house democrats votes to remove her from her committee's today, it will be the first time in two centuries that that has happened where the majority party has removed someone from the other party from their committees.

usually, when someone is removed from the committees, it is done within their own party. i would remind nancy pelosi that there are several members of her party that she needs to handle before she starts on our side. let's look at this, nancy pelosi, president biden, 15 days ago, president biden stood before this capital same we need unity. biden said we needed unity. what the democrats have done since then is pushing to impeach a president not even an office. they changed the house rules in such a manner that they have taken away the rights of the minority. and now they are trying to remove republican members of committees because they disagree with them. but they will not look in their own backyard, where they have members who have promoted violence against other elected officials. they have members that have said anti-semitic comments. and they did nothing about it.

and they have a member that serves on the house intel committee that had a relationship with a chinese spy. take care of your own backyard before you start cleaning up ours. marjorie taylor greene you said you were hesitant -- host: you said you were hesitant to talk about the conference meeting yesterday, but what can you say at all what marjorie taylor greene said to you, her colleagues, about her past comments about conspiracy theories last night? guest: we had a good family discussion. marjorie taylor greene did stand up. and she addressed a lot of the concerns within the media. she apologized for how it may have affected any member of the house. she also said all of her comments were made prior to being elected to congress. and that she had to deal with those when she ran for office. they were used against her in her campaign. and the people of northern georgia understood that and

supported her and a center to washington. under no circumstance should another member of congress be able to say who is the best voice for another member of congress, in another part of this country. host: garden city, iowa. jamie, a republican. caller: hi. guest: how are you? caller: i am fine. i have a few points to make. i they that some callers do not remember that president trump did waive presidential pay and he brought businesses back to america, cutting us off to being reliant on foreign resources. i understand that the overage in spending is probably because we are putting in the budget milllions for the kennedy -- millions of dollars for the kennedy center, which nancy pelosi sits on the house or the board of the kennedy center.

we are putting in things that were going to go to guantanamo bay. and impeachment, that is our federal funds paying you to waste time during a crisis. eliminating jobs while we are working on giving people money is just, to me, stupid. guest: you know what, politicians need to listen to the phrase, putting people before politics. that's what i have been raised that that is what you are supposed to be doing. but unfortunate, so many people are putting politics before people. that's unacceptable. i will work with president biden, house democrats, the senate democrats and, of course, the republican party is here if you are going to deliver for the working class. the working class has been hurting during the pandemic.

that's who you need to. tension to. under the last administration, we saw the best economy in over a generation. the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years. in multiple areas. you talk about job growth, record unemployment, low taxes, much less regulations to allow small businesses to grow and prosper -- that's the kind of economy, that is what the working class wants. i will tell you, watching union members who have recently been fired by the stroke of a pen from president biden, it hurts. whenever you see that one politician basically fired hundreds of thousands of american workers in the -- with the reasoning to basically unify his liberal base, that is unacceptable.

these are americans wondering how they will pay their mortgage, put food on the table, and to send their kids to school. the elected officials should not be making the lives of the working class harder. get government out of the way and let people grow. host: last call. line free democrats. can you make it click? -- for democrats. can you make it quick? caller: i can. we are talking about spending. i do not think you have a clear idea about what is happening. republicans have spent -- and i have a question -- since we are talking about covid-19 support money for those that do not believe it was true, and still do not wear a mask, do you believe they should still receive financial stimulus? guest: what was the question? host: i think the question was, if somebody refuses to wear a

mask, should they receive financial stimulus? guest: i believe that wearing a mask should be your freedom. i encourage everyone to wear a mask, but it needs to be your choice. the government should not use the heavy hand to tell you what you can and cannot do. what i have a problem with is blue state governors locking down their states and not using science, that are closing down thousands of small businesses across this country. these people have poured their blood, sweat and tears and all financial resources for years. and they have a liberal governor in california and new york, shutting them down. those people are losing everything. there is an appropriate way to make sure that you can keep the doors open, but governors are not doing it. look at california. the fact you cannot go to your house to worship god, but you can go to a strip club or tattoo

parlor, that is unacceptable. host: congressman jason smith, republican of missouri,the top republican on the house budget committee. we always appreciate you stopping by. guest: thank you. host: the house is in in just under one hour. but we will return to the question that we begin our program with today, that house vote taking place today on marjorie taylor greene, whether to strip her of her committee posts. you can call on that topic. for republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: with the biden administration leading the federal response to the pandemic, follow the latest at

c-span.org/coronavirus. search c-span's coverage of news conferences, as well as remarks from members of congress. use the gallery of maps to follow the cases in the u.s. and worldwide. go to c-span.org/coronavirus. listen to c-span's podcast the weekly. this week, the paris agreement. years after donald trump withdrew, the executive order not to reenter the global treaty. wall street journal's dan michael's explains the agreement and what is next for the united states. dan: the first challenge would seem to be when he meets his counterparts, to discuss the paris accord, is rebuilding u.s. credibility. he will help -- no one will doubt president biden's sincerity.

but the u.s. as a whole, probably europe and others will be looking at it to see if the u.s. is really going to take measures that will address climate change. and also commit money to helping other countries address climate change. announcer: find at the weekly where you get your podcasts -- find the weekly where you get your podcasts. the senate impeachment trial of former president donald trump begins on tuesday, with senators deciding if the former president should be convicted on the incitement of insurrection. it will start tuesday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two, c-span.org, or listen free on the radio app. you can watch it any time on demand at c-span.org/impeachment. "washington journal" continues.

host: the house is coming in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. on onf the issues today will be whether to strip marjorie taylor greene of her committee posts. we are asking you your opinion on that. as well, the vote last night in the house republican conference to -- on whether or not to remove liz cheney from her leadership position. she survived that vote and continues to be in the house republican leadership. here is how it played out on the front page of the washington times. cheney reclaims battle, republicans' mixed messages on the lingering power of trump. saying it is a mixed signal on those issues. that it has a lot to do with what happened with the future of the republican party.

talking about all of it in this last segment. republicans should call 202-748-8001 to share your comments. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. up first, we will get right to your phone calls, linda in new york. she's a democrat. good morning. caller: i believe she should be taken from the chair. and i do believe that she's -- she doesn't deal with facts. and she is a violent person. thank you. host: john in wilmington, delaware, a republican. what are your thoughts? caller: i support president trump. i think he has to get back in the white house. and we cannot kick marjorie taylor greene out of office, we knew women like her there, otherwise democrats will keep eating babies and cutting faces off of them.

we elected president trump and it is time he gets back and does his job. host: what do you think about members who voted against president trump when he came -- it came to the house floor, known bigger than the third republican in the leadership of the house, congresswoman liz cheney? caller: i do not know much about her. i think her father was a little bit better than her in there. i think maybe she should be expelled. host: john and delaware. -- in delaware. bill, an independent, go ahead. caller: good morning. i have an interesting comment. i think that marjorie taylor greene, much like the former president, they are advocates of things like violence, but they are trying to incite others. and i do not understand why people who would support someone like her are not questioning why, if she doesn't -- i am not

advocating this whatsoever -- but she talks big and it does nothing more than insight her followers, without actually taking action herself. which is essentially what donald trump did in inciting the riot on the capitol. and i think it is interesting about these people who speak out on that side about their actions and beliefs. primarily, they are inciting others without actually executing actions on their own. host: democrats calling on republican leadership to remove marjorie taylor greene from her positions on the budget committee and education and labor committee, in light of these pass controversial comments. jeffries, and member of the house democratic leadership, laying out the case yesterday afternoon. [video clip] >> mr. mccarthy should handle this problem, because marjorie taylor greene is totally out of

control, as a qanon caucus leader, sympathizer, and somebody who has denied mass shootings have taken place, a s well as promoted and embraced efforts by some to facilitate violence against our legislative leaders. and so, it seems to me that the best thing that could happen at this moment is very kevin mccarthy to make clear that she should not be on the education and labor committee. if he doesn't make that decision, we will be prepared to move forward. but let's cross that bridge when we get to it. host: later yesterday evening, the house republican conference met. kevin mccarthy taking no action to remove marjorie taylor greene

from her house committee posts. therefore, today, this resolution will happen on the house floor. a vote on whether to do it. it will be a vote of the full house. yesterday, kevin mccarthy, after the meeting, talked about why he chose not to remove her from her committee posts. this is what he said. [video clip] >> what about the decision not to remove her? representative mccarthy: i did. and when steny hoyer called me, he said that was the complaint. i want to be very clear, we denounced anything we have seen that was said in the past. it has no place in our party. marjorie taylor greene actually said the inside of our conference. she said about that and the shootings. she is a small business owner. so we said budget and a small business. i was willing to do that. steny hoyer and the democrats said no, they will judge her on

things said, that she denounced before she was a member of congress. i wonder if they will take that same standard. what about homeland security and intel? the speaker has that appointment. she and i were down in the skiff, and we heard with the fbi report was. no way would i ever leave him on intel and homeland. i question whether he should still be a member of congress. and maxine waters. i wonder if they put that same standard on someone else. no time in the history of congress of people decided where other parties are putting people on committees. >> she says she is a cancer of the republican party. representative mccarthy: i denounce all those comments. she came inside of our conference and denounced them as well. she said she was wrong. she reached out in other ways.

and nothing that she said has been based upon, since she has been a member of congress, so the voters -- no, the voters decided she could come and serve. and she denounced all of those. inside of our chambers -- >> she has not apologized for her past comments. representative mccarthy: that is what she did inside of our conference. host: kevin mccarthy last night. as part of c-span's efforts to interview other the freshman members of the incoming class, we actually sat down with marjorie taylor greene in early december. and one of the issues we asked her about in that freshman interview was her past comments about cueing on -- qanon. >> you drew attention for showing support for the group and i am wondering how you first became, how you first knew of the group and your -- why their

message has resonated with you? >> you know, i support president trump. he was one of the first politicians that i really felt inspired by, when he stood on a stage with 17 republicans are running for president. and after we elected him, i mean, everyone was thrilled. then we watched the media attack him every single day, the democrats attack him, and than the whole plan to try to remove him from office wrapped around the conspiracy theory of russian collusion. and that being broadcasted 24-7, day in, day out from the media was something most americans didn't believe. and obviously, later was proven to be false. myself, not being a politician or ever having any plans to be one, i did the same thing as

millions of americans did and i looked to the internet on what was really going on. that was where i stumbled across different ideas. and i'm just the kind of person -- i will tell you what i think and feel and the things i write about. and i went on facebook and i talked about them. a lot of the times i was just talking about the things that i read, not necessarily preaching them, like some of the stories have tried to say. i did that. i'm in normal, regular person. and i also found things i did not think were true. so i made the decision to change paths and go, ok, if i want to make a difference, if i want to make sure that we protect our america first values, if i want to make sure that all americans, because we are all equal, maintain and keep our freedom, then i need to put that into action and not just looking at

the internet or talking on social media. so that is what i decided to do. and that is how i ended up here. host: congresswoman marjorie taylor greene from her freshman interview with c-span. it's available on our website at c-span.org. it's about three minutes or so - - it's about 20 minutes or so. this morning, getting your thoughts on what is happening on the house floor today. patricia is in riverdale, georgia, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. am i on? host: yes. caller: hey, i think that the republicans and the democrats need to stop arguing with one another. we pay them. we pay their salaries to do a job for the people out here, ok? they need to stop picking and choosing people to either impeach or get rid of.

that's not what we are paying them to do, we are paying them to do a job for us. with that said, if they do not feel they can do the job we elected them to do, then we probably need to get rid of all of them and then vote in some more people. host: patricia in riverdale, georgia. we want to stay in georgia for a minute. we are joined on the phone now by riley bunch, a statehouse reporter for cnhy news. we are about three months away from marjorie taylor greene winning her house race with 75% of the vote. i wonder if the stories about qanon and past postings, did they come up during that campaign and did she address them on the campaign trail? guest: absolutely. there was early talk about her past comments, past videos

during the primary. and many of her opponents brought it up to constituents, but i think what we are seeing in terms of things resurfacing, is that there is little of her comments that are coming out now that the north the georgians have not heard before. host: you are talking about support now, have there been polls in georgia, how are you reading that support in the wake of what has been happening in just the past couple days? guest: you know, the way that i kind of garner how she is being supported now is there was a letter sent to kevin mccarthy last week from local republicans, basically dictating their continued support for her. there's basically two streams of justification for it. there's the narrative crafted by the gop, that the media is biased and taking things out of

context. but there is also the more probable argument that 230,000 people voted for her in the general election, granted she was running basically unopposed, her democratic challenger dropped out. but the argument from them is, does this constituency not deserve the representation in congress that other constituencies do? host: what is her messages supporters back home? we can read her public twitter postings. th was heri last night after the house republican conferences at 11:30 p.m. eastern, thanking the 13,000 america first patriot who sent a message to the radical democrat mob in the last 48 hours by donating to support hersey in congress. the people have my back and i will always have yours. she has raised over $175,000 through the fundraising effort, but what is she doing back home? guest: if there is one thing

that representative greene has done, she has stuck to her word. she had the same message on the campaign trail and she is not wavering now, she is continuing to be the voice for the people who she represents. and she is not going to let the media, the politicians on the left, hit her down. i think we have seen this because she has not outright come and apologized publicly for the comments she has made. and her constituents in northwest georgia appreciate that she is sticking to the words she gave on the campaign trail. host: you cover the state politicians closely as the reporter there, have local politicians, the republican politicians in georgia, closed ranks around her? how much support are they giving her? guest: our high-profile state officials, republicans, have been pretty quiet about it.

we saw some from the democrats, calling for her to resign, but really posing a challenge for the republicans because whle she represents a specific district, she is a national phase for georgia now. that could kind of pushback against republicans come 2022. she still has so much support from the conservative base that she kind of gathered around herself from president trump. and he has so much influence on that. and the high-profile politician in georgia need that base to be successful in the next campaign cycle. host: cnhinews.com is where you can see riley bunch's work. thank you for checking in with us. guest: thank you. host: bacterial phone calls as we get your thoughts -- back to your phone calls as we get your thoughts. now on the line for democrats, a

caller from pennsylvania. caller: i think she is a bit of a flake. i'm not sure how dangerous she is. but i certainly do not think she should serve on committees. and she should possibly be removed from congress. host: patty in harrisburg, but something. an independent -- in harrisburg, pennsylvania. an independent. caller: i think she should be gone, out of congress. there are consequences for your actions. in d.c. and across the country, they do not see too many consequences from the actions and that people have. i think that she is -- she is like one of those people that supports trump. i really think he wanted to be a dictator. and one thing that dictators do is turn off the media.

or they get people to turn against the media. and he certainly tried to do that. and he would come back and say, i did not mean that, i was just kidding, or giving those excuses. but some of the actions taken by his followers, it really seems like a cult to me, those who follow trump. host: this is lois out of kentucky, good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. host: i can hear you. go ahead. caller: oh, um, i think that this person, marjorie taylor greene, should be removed from any kind of authority, to change the path of republican philosophy. she is an embarrassment to the party.

i have been a registered republican for more than 40 years and i have never voted for donald trump. i thought his character was flawed. i thought that he was a bully from the get-go. i wrote it in the last election -- voted in the last election. i'm in my 80's. but i voted straight democrat, because i wanted to send a message with my vote that i did not want republicans to follow the trump philosophy. and this woman is -- it's so ignorant, i think that she is embarrassing. host: do you think the folks who work in the capital, do you think they heard the message you tried to send? caller: i am sorry, i do not understand you. host: do you think the republicans on capitol hill heard the message you are trying to send with your vote? caller: i do not think they did.

i wanted to have -- the question has been raised, especially by trump, as to why he lost when other republicans won. i think it is because people like me did not want him. we voted for other republicans, but we did not vote for him. and i am not going to vote for him in the future, or anyone who supports him. host: lois out of kentucky. this is robert out of maine. good morning. caller: good morning. you know, the republicans voted in secret on whether to remove her not. and i think that -- her or not. i think that how's everybody exactly why they said no. that is there are people in addition to marjorie taylor greene who support or are

supporting the trump-led uprising and sedition that this country has experienced. this is not about public policy, this is about an attack on the u.s. constitution. it's very serious. we should be able to find out how they voted. if a third of the republicans, which is being reported, gave this woman a standing ovation, then we have a very serious problem. host: robert, to keep things straight on what we know about the closed republican conference meeting yesterday, secret vote was held on whether to remove liz cheney, the wyoming republican, number three in line of house republicans leadership, from that post. that vote was pushed for, called for, by those republicans who

were upset with her vote to impeach president trump a couple weeks ago. it was 145-61 in that secret ballot vote to not remove her from that leadership position. the new york times in the reporting notes that in that often heated meeting, according to people familiar with the decision, kevin mccarthy stood by both liz cheney and marjorie taylor greene, and stressed the importance of providing a united front. in the defense of liz cheney, mccarthy told lawmakers he wanted the leadership team to stay together. he reminded them that he was elected as their leader, and he asked of to let him lead by picking his own team. judy is waiting in michigan, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is, under article ii, section four of the

constitution, not only should marjorie taylor greene be removed, so should other republicans keeping her. qanon is definitely a terrorist organization. when donald trump called on them to lay siege on the capitol, he should have been removed as a terrorist. so should those who were in the building who helped him lay siege on the capital, which was marjorie taylor greene and those helping with masks. as mitch mcconnell cannot see that, or is not taking part in that, then there is definitely something wrong with the republican party. and -- host: it was mitch mcconnell who referred to some of marjorie taylor greene's comments, especially about qanon, saying that they were a cancer on the party. that's what the minority leader said. caller: but how can they keep her in there?

why did they allow her a standing ovation? host: that is judy in michigan. tonya is in new jersey. a democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to say that everything that has been going on with this woman, she spoke her truth. if people can understand, that is her truth. the republican party will have to decide who they want to be, they cannot straddle the fence anymore. they cannot say they are for this, then turn around and say they are for some thing else. that's my comments on marjorie taylor greene. host: several democrats are taking to the house rules committee hearing yesterday that set up the vote that will be taking place today on the floor, talking about not only marjorie taylor greene's words in the past, but also their impact in the present. one of those members was the

ethics committee chair in the house. this is what he had to say. this is the florida democratic congressman. [video clip] >> it is important for the committee to remember why her conduct is so very, very dangerous. ms. greene tells conspiracy theories that radicalize people online. these theories are not just deluded, they also promote harassment, they dehumanize and devalue wise large swaths of our population based on race and faith. last year, fbi director wrey testified that conspiracy theories like the ones marjorie taylor greene promotes are among the most serious threats to american security. marjorie taylor greene is now a member of congress, one that has publicly touted racist,

anti-semitic, islamic phobic garbage. she has harassed survivors of mass shootings, denied their very occurrence. now, i have cried with the families of parkland and i have grieved with them. and in my wallet, to this day, i carry a sheet of paper with the names of their loved ones. so that they are never forgotten in congress. so, as we have this conversation, you are right, you have met families, we have all met the families. i just want to be clear, i'm here today in part because scott, martin, nick, jamie, chris, luke, gina, joaquin,

annetta, carla, and peter and the others cannot groove. there are too many more to name. there are not enough words to properly describe how the remarks of marjorie taylor greene makes these families feel. they are still suffering, they will be suffering forever and this makes it so much worse. host: that was the congressman last night at that house rules committee mary -- rules committee hearing. the house will be coming in in about 25 minutes. one issue will be on whether to strip marjorie taylor greene of her committee seats on the education and labor committee, and the budget committee. carol in west virginia, an independent. go ahead. caller: good morning, john.

i want to say that washington journal is a national treasure. thank you for taking my call. i want to say that yes, she needs to be taken out of there, but also maxine waters, when she stood on and round people up, to get in there faces no matter where people are at, that's also -- i mean, she needs to be looked into too for that, because that is inciting riots. there's money on both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrats, that has pushed for this, has pushed for violence. and has not condemned it. so i think both sides need to be looked at. and marjorie taylor greene needs

to be put out of there. host: on your point about both sides, some republicans are raising the issue. they raised the issue yesterday. one was a texas republican. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> representative greene was not a member of the house when she said these statements. however, representative omar has been sworn in for three months, when she said that the council on islamic america malaysians was founded after 9/11, because they recognized that some people did something. there are two glaring errors. first, car was foundede -- care was founded in 1994. on 9/11, it was not just when people did something, it was the brutal murder of nearly 3000

americans by radical islamic terrorists. and this very capitol may have been the next target, had not four of those terrorists been thwarted by heroes of flight 93. i could go on with the litany of the anti-semitic, america is a bad guy rhetoric that representative omar has espoused both before and during her time in congress. the majority is seeking to hold representative greene the standards of the house rules for her conduct, words, while she was a private citizen, but they will do nothing about representative omar's conduct and words while she has been in office. i do not doubt many of you believe you are defending this institution with this vote, but if you can prove it by going off script, this hearing is supposed to follow, by voting your conscience, please take off your partisan blinders, hold your

calling to account for the shameful conduct she has exhibited while wearing one of these pins, they maybe we can talk about ms. greene. host: that was yesterday before the house rules committee. this is michelle, a republican out of new york. good morning. caller: i do not believe that they should take her off. off of the senate, take her off of the floor. absolutely not. host: why not? caller: it's ridiculous. if they are going to hold her accountable, take off the rest of the people that have incited violence that they say she is doing. all summer, when we had riots, people were being killed, someone said this is ridiculous to nancy pelosi, you should say something about the violence. you know what she said? people will be people.

in other words, whatever is good for the democrats is not good for the republicans. it's so unfair. host: what did you think about the vote last night in the house republican conference to keep liz cheney in her leadership post in the wake of her vote to impeach president trump? caller: it really does not matter. i'm a trump voter, but it is about freedom of speech. it's our right. this is where i do not know what is happening with the world, that they are trying to take away every single amendment that we have, our bill of rights. i do not think it is really about people wanting donald trump, they like his policies, he protected us at the borders and he did good things with the tariffs on china. he is not giving money to the middle east to build nuclear weapons. how stupid is that. host: more specifically on liz

cheney on how her vote to impeach the former president is playing back home, we are turning to nick reynolds, a politics reporter with the star tribune out of casper, wyoming. nick, good morning. it was three months ago that liz cheney had a fairly easy reelection to her latest ter,, her third -- term, her third in congress. if that vote was held today, how much harder would have been? guest: i would say it would still probably be a landslide. she really has not faced a serious candidate or challenge here in the state since 2016, when she first ran. that field was heavily divided. there were two members of the state legislature running against her in that race, as well as other people from different corners of the political scene. you had the chair of the republican party in the county

where the capital city is. and he managed to get about 15% of the vote. the other two state legislature representatives got a little over a foot of the vote. then she -- fifth of the vote. then she slept the rest of the field. it would be interesting to see how that would stack up against her today, but has been certainly interesting to see the outpouring of enthusiasm that has developed since the impeachment vote on january 13. host: you talk about the enthusiasm in the state, it was matt dietz who tried to whip up enthusiasm against liz cheney when he visited last week, to headline a rally against her. explain how that came together and who put that on in the state. guest: that was actually kind of a random event. talking to people who are

actually in attendance while i was there, longtime republican activists said they had never seen anything like it. it was about 750 to 1000 people in attendance, which may be small compared to rallies in d.c., but there in person it was raucous. it wasn't all people against liz cheney, there were some supporters there, as well as some democrats. but there still is a large amount of the state that is externally loyal to president trump. -- extremely loyal to president trump. but it is not the entire state. some people make the mistake of labeling the entire republican party in wyoming as a monolith where everybody is closely aligned with donald trump, but that is not the case. the state voted for him 70% in the 2020 election. it has been consistent in its support of him but if, you

really look at the policies of the trump administration versus what the biden administration has been pitching, it was an essential vote for a lot of people. most of the headlines now have been about the drilling on federal lands, which is a huge part of the state's economy. about two thirds of the state is federal land at this point. and federal drilling is one of the state's highest sources of income. we have a tax structure that is almost completely based on the extractive industries like coal, natural gas and oil. and for that ban on federal lands, that is a threat to the state's economy any a lot of people's minds -- in a lot of people's minds. host: how important is that leadership position that congresswoman cheney holds, the

number three republican in the house? how important is that the folks in the state? and how much did her father, dick cheney, try to help her shore up support in the wake of this controversial impeachment vote? guest: i think that her father has been more on a figure -- of a figure on the federal level than the state level. for the most part it seems like his quotes pop up in the national press. but wyoming has a long tradition of punching above its weight in congress, mostly because it has to -- the entire state is the stringing together of small towns that adds up to a publisher less than the city of milwaukee. given that we are so small and so dependent on federally owned resources, for the most part, we really do need a delegation that's able to stretch beyond its station of having only three representatives.

for a long time, we had that. if you go back to the 1980's, when we had al simpson. we had dick cheney in the white house for a really long period, that helped out wyoming in more ways than we could have imagined. and today, i representatives, the way they are positioned in committees is usually important. last night, we got official confirmation of several of our senators actually getting positions on really valuable committees for us. that's really important. and we have john on the energy committee. and liz cheney as the third republican in the house, that means we get amendments in our favor that are probably more influential than just the passage of bills. when you are a congressperson, it is not just about how many bills you pass, it is about

making deals, getting language into certain bills t benefit your statehat -- that benefit your state. so having that influence for such a small state pays dividends that people do not see immediately. host: nick reynolds is with the star tribune out of casper, wyoming. it's very easy to find, @ iamnickreynolds. guest: thank you. host: the house will be coming in in 10 minutes. we are getting your thoughts on the liz cheney story yesterday and the marjorie taylor greene story that will be continuing today. gary is in west virginia, a democrat. go ahead. caller: how are you doing? host: doing alright. caller: as far as liz cheney, it's a shame that you have to be exercised there when you want to

see something happen the way it should be. and listening to that congressman from texas last night on ms. greene, about what she does has been this and that in the past. her running around trying to get guns on the floor has not been in the past. i could see the way that people are feeling and i still, 'till this day, cannot figure out why people are scared of donald trump. they have -- it's like he is a pied piper and they are a bunch of little mice who have to follow him, no matter what. and they keep saying what he has done for the u.s. yeah, he has hurt a lot of people by not doing anything last year alone. just -- and i am so glad that things are going to be safe. it will take a little while, but things are going to get straightened back out. and we will start really

thinking on what has been done. host: c.j. in california, an independent. caller: good morning. wow, just listening to this. it's ridiculous. i was listening to ted deutch, right. what a hypocrite for him saying this, when a lot of his own party had said a lot worse than what this girl said. and this girl is represented by the people that voted for her. that's the u.s., that is the way the constitution works. and because they do not want to hear this. you brought up sandy hook and all that other stuff, that has nothing to do with her. that has nothing to do with anything about that. host: when you say that there's folks on the others who have said worse, aren't they representing the people of their

district? caller: i do not believe so. omar, do you think the people in her district are happy about 9/11, and some people did something? do you think that they would back up that statement? host: just like marjorie taylor greene's district elected her to congress. caller: i do not believe the people that voted for omar actually believed somebody did something, do you know what i am saying? and i am just saying about all this with guns, how can ted deutch tie that together with this girl, this representative? it does not make sense. host: cliff is next out of san angelo, texas. a republican. caller: good morning. well, this show that you host and i love to listen to, i

think, is based on free speech. and i think we are talking about free speech right now in a way that i do not think a lot of people understand just how much free speech is under fire. you know, i saw -- i listened yesterday to a musician who happened to make a derogatory comment to a segment of our population, and he was canceled out. his record deals canceled out. he was canceled out by everybody. justin thomas, the golfer, he made a remark that was picked up on tv the other day. he shouldn't have made it. we all agree to that. but then he had a multimillion dollar sponsor drop him. this idea of punishment towards what we have always honored, which is free speech -- we may

not always agree, it may have been said in a way it should have not been said. but the punishment is too severe. and for people to be so afraid -- this is what it is all about. the congressman from babbitt -- the republican from texas, i agree with him. this is a very serious issue. host: on the issue of free speech, should members of congress be held to a higher standard in what they say when it comes to conspiracy theories? should there be more of a standard for an elected official who works in the u.s. capitol and works on legislation? caller: i think that they should be held to a high standard. i believe we should all be held to a high standard. if i say something that is derogatory, i want the appropriate response, not be canceled out and destroyed as a person. host: what is the appropriate

response in this situation that has led to this conversation this morning? caller: excuse me? host: what is the appropriate response in this situation that we are dealing with today? caller: i think that there ought to be a big comeback from the democrats and people who disagree with her. i think that there ought to be a dialogue, a very rough dialogue. it is interesting, politics has only said it is a hardball game, but it has not been that. politics is a very brutal sport, yet when people come out with things that are somewhat brutal, the other side does not want to hear it. it's really almost comical. don't you want to hear what representative greene said? don't you want to say what ilhan omar wants to say? i am against her politics, but i want to hear what she has to say. host: cliff in texas. some comments from those texting

us. chris from twitter saying, marjorie taylor greene was elected by the people and should remain, but she should not be on any type of committee. she donald trump -- she and donald trump are of the same ilk. another viewer saying marjorie taylor greene is entitled to her beliefs. if they should remove her, democrats should be removed as well for their words. it's another silencing tactic. let's get on with doing the people's work. rick says marjorie taylor greene should be stripped of her committee assignments, but the real concern should be what has happened in this country that people support such a person. address the disease, not just the symptoms. time for a couple more calls as we wait for the house to come in. roxanne in spartanburg. good morning. caller: good morning. i believe that yes, she should be taken off the committees,

because she is causing too much problems. and i do not understand how the republicans, they say that they are for law and order and everything, but the bottom line is a police officer has gotten killed. how can you condone what the president said, the past president has said, and nobody is going to be held accountable? that's not being fair. host: james and louisiana, an independent -- in louisiana, an independent. go ahead. caller: i think that she should be removed because the way that this country is going right now, first of all, donald trump's the antichrist. the thing that went on concerning on january 6 should have never went on. this is the first president in the history of our country that

they have gotten rid of his cabinet members during his term in office. i think that greene, she engages on the violences going on in the country, and donald trump does the same thing. host: frank in new york, a republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. my comment is, let's face it, greene rode the trump train. we know what that is. it's division and being racist. but, if indeed all that was said before the election, and the people that voted for her still voted for her, then i am sorry, but she has to stay where she is.

what can you do? they elected her. you cannot start taking people out of office because what they say. host: this is not to remove her from office, this would be to remove her from committee assignments, including the education and labor committee in the wake of some of her comments saying that school shootings were staged. caller: absolutely. i think that is totally ridiculous. that if the people put her there, and you know, what can you do? if she is qualified to be on the committee, she should be on the committee. and she should face the consequences of the next election. believe me, i am not a supporter of her whatsoever, i think she is a nut job. host: what do you think it should take to remove a member of congress before an election?

what would be something that would cross the line -- what would be something that would cross the line? caller: well, if she said that after she was elected, now you basically didn't make the people that are going to vote for you know your real feelings. if she wasn't on record -- you know, if she said all this, all this came out and nobody knew about before the election, then i believe she is not fit for office. but if the people put her there knowing this, then there are a lot of people you could dig into, who said things before the election. look at joe biden himself. he was against bussing, his own running mate called him out on it.

he said, look, i changed. and the people voted for him. host: jackie in california. an independent. caller: thank you very much. i have been watching your show. i love you so. i'm afraid i do not have a very deep question. you had given out a website to get more information on the greene. and i wonder if you could repeat it. host: it was a caller asking about a wrap up of past comments. it was from new york magazine, nymag.com. the headline of the story by jonathan shakes. gop congresswoman blames wildfires on space lasers. that's what i had given out

earlier. is that what you are asking for? caller: you said something about .com. host: nymag.com, just one of the many wrap ups. but we actually have to wrap up right now. but we will be back tomorrow morning for more "washington journal." now the house is getting ready to gavel in for the day. we will take you to the house floor for that gavel-to-gavel coverage. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]