the u.k., and that is the objective of our planning bill. >> i now suspend the house for three minutes to enable -- to present the next announcer: the house is back monday at 2:00 p.m. eastern for legislative business. on the agenda, establishing a commission to investigate the january 6 attack on the capital. and a surface transportation and water infrastructure package, separate from the larger infrastructure dale reached the -- deal reached last week. the senate is adjourned through the fourth of july holiday. their next votes are scheduled for july 12. washington journal continues. host: our focus is the biden administration and the party. good sunday morning and thank you for being with us.

guest: thank you very much. host: let's start with the state of the republican party. as someone who has written books about ronald reagan and his political career, would he be comfortable in today's republican party? >> the answer, i think -- guest: the answer, i think is yes. he bent the party with the force of his ideas to his own service. the republican party became a taxcutting party. it had been a tax increasing party. he made it into a pro-life party. previously, it was divided. through the course, megan, the

party he inherited in the late 1970's became to his liking by the time he ran for president. the platform of 1980 is vastly different from the republican party in 1976. that was do to reagan and the conservative takeover of the party. host: did it surprise you that the republican party did not have a platform? guest: it did. a party has to stand for something. it has to have a concrete set of ideas. because we have two, it has to mean something for the american people. the democratic party --

it is not hard to state. because of internal warfare and battles, they do not have a party today. going into the 2022 election, what it stands for -- it is not enough to run against democrats. you have to stand for something and believe in something. host: a column that you wrote was published earlier this month. american governments stopped working for the people a long time ago. they have become increasingly

entrenched in blood would -- bloated political machines. as it worse today than 30 to 40 years ago? guest: definitely. every level of government is servicing the american people, more or less. the term civil servant is not being used anymore. they are working for us. we pay their salaries. we do not give them the power to the willy-nilly passed laws. washington is a corrupt city. less and less resonance with the american people today. a lot of state governments are the same way. state government in new york.

many died unnecessarily. vaccines were administered in a haphazard fashion. the government was supposed to be small and efficient. host: let's turn our attention to former president donald trump discussing the 2020 race, a vase that he says that he won. a demonstration took place in june of last year. mr. trump: you have seen over the last three weeks, the media and democrats are admitting that i was right about everything. the election is over and they do not care.

big deal, right? big deal. they lied about so many things before the election and it is not just what they said, it is what they did not say. where is hunter? the virus came from a chinese lab. hydroxychloroquine actually works. remember? i made a mistake on hydroxychloroquine. i should have said it is a disaster. please do not use it. instead, i said it works and now reports are coming out that it works. hunter biden's laptop was real. lafayette square was not cleared for a photo op. they tried to burn down the church the day before.

the russian bounties story was a total fake. the cameras are starting to go off. i better speak fast. they do not like this speech. host: a campaign rally that we carried live. your comments and reaction? guest: he certainly has lost his touch. i happen to think that joe biden won legitimately. there are always questions. i think it would be better for him and the country if he simply dropped the issue and looked to the future.

the best course of action is just for him to drop it. national media has grown increasingly biased and not always truthful about things. they regard it as a pain in the neck, but they also saw him as an ally of the american people. they fulfilled that obligation. they were a force against john adams. ronald reagan had to contend with and only in recent years has the papers and media of the current era firmly allied themselves. that is to the detriment of the american people.

the only solution that i see is to create alternative press as conservatives done -- have done with talk radio and the internet. that is really the only announcer: c-span's washington journal. every day we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day, and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up monday morning, a preview of the week ahead in congress with catherine tilling mcmanus, and a discussion of covid vaccination rates and vaccine hesitancy with a vaccine expert. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern monday morning. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets.