events on our free mobile video app. four online at c-spaorg. >> the senate returns todayt 3:00 eastern for more work on the marriage equality bill. the house returns tuesday for legislative work. democrats will elect leaders for the 8th congress, including hakeem jeffries as a candidate for minority leader. a irf bills about the incarcerat. one author rate is grants reentry progra for those being released. the other addresses the health of pregnant jailed women. negotiations continue tound the negotiation through next year. watch live coverage of the house on c-span. you can ao watch on our free video app c-span now or online at c-span.org.

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your podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: linda feldmann is the washington bureau chief for the christian science monitor. she is also their moderator for the regular monitor breakfast. here with us this morning to talk about what is ahead for the 118th congress. there is a pile of work to get done in the last five weeks, four weeks. one of the top priorities? guest: the first thing is keeping the government-funded. the last resolution went through december 16. they have to fund the government. there is talk of kicking it down the road another week to the 23rd, but i think members might be looking at staying here right

until christmas, if not through christmas. host: they have this deadline they set a couple months ago, but this is for spending for the current fiscal year we are in. is there a possibility they kick it even further down the road to the 118th congress? guest: republicans won the house by a narrow majority. host: what else are you looking at? guest: in terms of -- the national defense authorization act needs to go through that funds order defense capabilities are important. other things coming up in the lame-duck is the respect for marriage act, which is an effort to lock in same-sex marriage and interracial marriage.

that is a top priority. additional funding for the war in ukraine, which can be a little tricky because some republicans and some democrats\ are saying ," why are we spending so much in ukraine?" host: for that white house request, is there a chance that might not get done i the lame-duck session? guest: -- done by the lame-duck session? guest: it is possible, but this is nancy pelosi's swansong. she is a leader with no peer in terms of corralling her caucus. she has a wide range of views within her caucus, including the progressives.

nancy pelosi enjoys a lot of respect and since she was stepping down from party leadership in the house, we will watch her in action. host: i want to ask you about the upcoming leadership elections for the democrats. we will open up our phone lines to listen to our callers. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. for republicans, it is (202) 748-8001. and for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. we are talking about the lame-duck session ahead and the 118th. after midterms does anybody have a mandate? you talk to a number of people, independents, republicans,

democrats. what was your sense in that article? what is your take away on a mandate? guest: there kind of isn't. the sense out of the midterms is that the democrats one, which they actually didn't -- democrats won, which they actually didn't. republicans won the house. the democrats beat expectations, and the reality is that we have divided government. the question is what can get done in divided government? often times it is nothing. in the first 2 years of the biden presidency, egot a lot of things passed with help from the republicans. that cost of the american taxpayers a lot of money.

actually the markets like that. you saw when republicans locked in control of the house, the markets went up because of inflation. what i liked about talking to jason gourmet is that he is an optimist. a lot can get done with the other party. a lot of bipartisanship can take place, even when control of a house is very narrow. next two years, maybe not so much. host: where are both wings of both parties in terms of those moderate members, the problem solvers caucus, if you will. what does it look like for the 118th? guest: they will have a lot of sway. we tend to hearing a lot of voices, whether it is -- we tend

to hear the strongest voices, whether it is joe manchin or the progressives. any group can demand attention because they are majority killers. i willt be interesting to see in the next congress who rises as the new voices and the existing voices who use the cot they have to block what they do not want. host: this is what we know so far, it was almost all decided in the house. 220 republican members and 2 races undecided, likely to go republican. 220 to 213. what does that mean for potential house speaker kevin mccarthy? guest: he has to channel his

inner nancy pelosi and corral the voice he needs. there are five house republicans on the record saying no to kevin mccarthy as speaker. it does not mean they will not flip. it does not mean that, therefore, kevin mccarthy is not the next speaker. there is no clear alternative to kevin mccarthy. they are using their leverage to win over their vote from mr. mccarthy. host: we will go to mike on the independent line from circleville, ohio. caller: i am ticked off without congress and senate. we have 2 house bills that need passing by the 21st. the first one is protection -- forgiveness for protection backed student loans.

i am a truck driver. i serve rural ohio. i have been hauling medical stuff all through this pandemic. going in these hospitals where they have the covid stuff, they need to get off there but send do something for us for once -- off their butts and do something for us for onces. if these loans were done, we would have a better economy. these politicians need to get off their butt. host: what is the status of this bill? guest: i'm not sure but this is a huge issue.

joe biden announced loan forgiveness on student loans a while ago, and he has been kicking the can down the road, having a moratorium on student loan payments. he has done that through june 22, i believe, conveniently until the end of the current supreme court session term. so i think that is where this issue will be decided. joe biden wants to wipe out up to $20,000 on student loans. this is a hugely divisive issue. there are many who believe this is unfair to those who didn't go to college because they couldn't afford it or to people who paid for their children, they paid that money, and the people who have paid their student loans off. i see this at once as an

important issue, but not an immediate concern. i see this ultimately being defended by the supreme court whether president biden has the constitutional right to wipe out billions of student loan debt. host: let's hear from our next caller in new york, republican line. caller: previous caller on your show was toting the achievements of biden, and i wanted to make a comment on that. something came to my mind about john kennedy. " ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country." i go all the way back to reagan. that was the best time in the country for me.

looking back on the achievements, and when he said government has come to micromanage our lives. all of the issues coming up on your show, i will deal with that. it is time to take a step back here. i think hopefully they can stop this insanity coming out of the white house. they are taking on everything. you get nothing done when you were doing everything. they have to get back to the basics and do those well. guest: can you be more specific? give me some areas where you feel the government is telling you what to do. caller: go to the border, stable currency, my progressions, transgenders. everything is in the political

realm. it does not need to be there. education, they won that. it is their monopoly, and they have done a lousy job with it. there is a lot of stuff that could be done outside of government. host: we will hear from linda feldmann. guest: it is an interesting question. we have the republicans gaining some power in the house. they have promised to lower inflation, lower crime, border security. border security is a government function. the real question is " do you want the government to act or not?" it is, " what do you want the government to do?" , with border security that is there. in terms of education, it is these culture war policies.

a lot of those are in the states. i have spent a lot of time in florida in recent years, and the governor there, ron desantis, is very strong on this issue, and it helped him to a lawn slide victory -- landslide victory in the midterms. it is all about what you want the government to do and not do, versus government acting period. host: part of the focus of the incoming republican leadership and caucus's own oversight hearings in the 118th congress. what are some of the potential windfalls of focusing on that? guest: the republicans have made clear, including the incoming committee chair, james comer, jim jordan, they want to

investigate the biden. hunter biden, joe biden himself, and what they think he might have derived from his international business dealings. they are also going to investigate covid origins. anthony fauci, the messy withdrawal from afghanistan. we can expect investigations. the question is whether republicans will overdo it., this is a question for both parties. each party has their agenda items, and do they do stuff to energize their base voters heading into the 2024 elections, or are they doing what is more common for congress, which is to pass legislation or not. host: you have covered congress for a while, so the rise of these oversight hearings has been notable. guest: it is huge.

obviously the january 6 hearings we just had, benghazi, impeachment hearings, impeachment hearings. you have these congressional committees that have a lot of power, a lot of subpoena, power and they can be quite dramatic. if that is all they are doing, then the public gets really upset, or enough of the public. host: you mentioned january 6. when is that committee expected to release its final report? guest: sometime this year. that committee, suffice it to say, will cease to exist after republicans take over. host: let's hear from springfield,, massachusetts david,, independent line. caller: this congress talks about the constitution and what we are guaranteed, which is life, liberty, and the pursuit

of happiness. my whole problem this year has been the abortion issue. why we still would allow people to kill unborn people, and especially with women, why would they think it is ok to kill unborn women, if they are women themselves? i know you are a woman, so what is your opinion on this? we have gone so low to not respect the least among us? host: tying it into legislation, will we see if all abortion proposal come out of a republican house? guest: no. there might be an effort for a nationwide abortion ban. there are republicans who want that, who believe what the caller believes, which is that life begins at conception, and even an early abortion is the killing of a human being. i do not know anyone who

thinks this issue is going anywhere in the house. it is interesting to see congress taking the dobbs decision, which sends abortion rights back to a state-by-state patchwork, and their reaction is to pass protections for gay marriage and interracial marriage because of what clarence thomas said in his opinion. when does life begin? for many that is a religious question. it all comes down to who decides. is it up to the woman, her doctor, her family, or is it what kind of role does the government play? when roe was the law of the land, the government did play a role. they mapped out a system by

which the states would set limits and the court allowed restrictions and requirements to obtain an abortion. now we are in a completely different landscape. host: we will get to democratic leadership elections and a moment. it is a significant change at the top, the speaker leaving, also the majority leader and majority whip james clyburn. what do you think of their legacy will be as leaders in the 117th congress? guest: their legacy will be to hold together an extremely small majority. on any vote, then say pelosi and her deputies could only afford to lose a handful of votes, and they got a lot done, spent a lot of money, starting with the american rescue plan, the big $1

trillion covid relief package, they did the chips and science act, which subsidizes federal subsidies for chip production in this country. when history books are written, this will be seen as nancy pelosi's swansong, but may be her best performance yet in her ability to lead with such a small majority. host: what is your view on why james clyburn said yesterday? he said one of the reasons he wanted to stay in power previously is southern reputation. [video clip] >> why do you think it is necessary for you to stay in power? do you think the next generation needs you to guide them? >> there is a healthy respect --

we need a healthy blend of stress and knowledge -- strength and knowledge. look at the leadership. the south is left out. i want to make sure that we do not tilt too far to the east or west. there is no other southerner among them. we need the south. where is the georgia? georgia is south. host: james clyburn yesterday. they potential, though i claim the leadership of the democratic caucus could include hakeem jeffries from new york, aguilar from the west, and katherine clark from massachusetts. guest: he makes a good point.

there are only 3 positions, there are only 3 people in that upper tier of leadership. that is not to say they will not listen to people from the south. the south is important. no one knows better than jim clyburn how to wield that power and how to make the south matter. he was essential to joe biden's democratic nomination in 2020. what we have now, what we are likely to have going forward is hiking jeffries is black, katherine clark is a white woman, and pete aguilar, a hispanic male. there is diversity right there. they are smart enough to know they need to consider the needs and desires of the south when they are steering. host: faraway new jersey, this is merrill on the independent line. caller: i want to make a comment

about same-sex marriage. i wanted to ask, the lady according to the bible jesus confirmed that those yoked together in marriage it should be male and female. god intended marriage to be a permanent, intimate bond between a man and a woman. it does not matter what congress votes on. this is what god says. host: what did the senate do in terms of accommodation for religious views in the proposed legislation coming up in the senate todaym as a matter of fact? guest: they had to take into account the sincerely held religious beliefs of many americans that marriage is between a man and a woman.

new legislation takes into account people who have that belief, and that has been applied to the law that will be dealt with this week. we have had some important supreme court cases dealing with that issue. can a customer force a baker to bake a cake that has a probe gay marriage sentiment expressed on the cake? the answer is no -- pro-gay marriage sentiment expressed on the cake? the answer is no. host: wendy republican senators -- that number, were you surprised by it? guest: that is huge. my sense is bad gay marriage in the main is so accepted now, it is remarkable to see how thought has changed on that issue. it has not been that long since

bill clinton signed the defense of marriage act, which was anti-gay marriage, and we have now done a 180. for a number of reasons, most americans feel, even if they are personally uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage, they seem most people do not believe it really hurts anybody else. if 2 men are married, if 2 women are married, they can have children. thought on gay marriage has shifted dramatically. host: you pointed out president clinton signing the defense of marriage act. newt gingrich takes control of the house. the majority was big. after that though clinton began to tap towards the center.

there was they were a form for example. the defense of marriage act was defense of where a republican -- was the defense of marriage act an example of a president tacking more to the party in power? guest: they realized they could stand apart and get nothing done, or they could each come to the middle and get a lot done, which is what they did. host: in a similar -- are there issues in a similar situation with joe biden and a likely speaker of the house kevin mccarthy? guest: i don't know. it depends on what kind of deals kevin mccarthy has to cut to when the speakership. he -- to win the speakership. he already has marjorie taylor

greene in his camp, but there are a bunch of others we do not know. it is too soon to say what coming to the middle we will be able to see. since bill clinton was president, this country has become more polarized. we saw that under barack obama. when he lost control of congress after his first midterm where he was shellacked, his mantra was pen and phone. i will sign a lot of executive orders. i cannot work with these people. it is not completely has fault. it takes two to tango and if the republican house is not willing to work with joe biden, and vice versa, then they will not do anything other than what they have to. host: a question for you via

text, " who are the members in congress in both parties you believe deserve your attention,?" may be focusing on a few key members for the 118th. guest: the new members. this is such an interesting election. the republicans who won, won house seats in new york, estate that caught rest of the country off guard. who is -- a state that caught rest of the country off guard. who is going to be the problem in the gears? we will see the -- the 2024 election has already started.

this group of five saying they will vote no on kevin mccarthy, they will be interesting, people like paul gosar, the group and the marjorie taylor greene camp. host: this trail ought to get some attention, they already have from politico. " bipartisan band of brothers -- the west point brides coming to congress. john james and -- the west point grads coming to congress." let's hear from brooklyn, maryland. nicole is on the independent line. go ahead. caller: i have a lot of scattered questions real quick. first is to address the issue of the bible. why is king david emphasizing

gentiles hanging out? why did the constitution say no discrimination against marital status? lastly, going back to my original reason for calling was for loan forgiveness. does that mean presidents too? only white americans who served got their loans erased. how about those of us people who were discriminated against for speaking out against things in our neighborhoods but because of coalitions, we have bad grades to reflect their numbers. " we gave minorities a chance, but they could not meet the grades." host: we talked about student loan forgiveness. guest: it is interesting she

feels it is discriminatory against people of color. a big impetus for this student loan forgiveness proposal is it helps people of color who have had a hard time paying their loans and their life prospects have diminished because of that. i know the intent of the white house is to help all people who have found themselves under crushing debt, and they want to be able to have a family by a house -- buy a house. it is interesting she feels this is aimed at helping white people. host: linda feldmann a washington bureau chief for the christian science monitor. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. and for all others, (202) 748-8002.

our next caller is dave in lindbergh, new york. caller: it was in response to hawaii allowing same-sex marriage the year before. if your guest knows anything about the hideous has to rule and what mccarthy -- how he feels about that because i saw something on c-span, a roles meeting about majority, which is a terrible rule that discourages bipartisanship, discourages the house, especially when run by republicans, to take out bipartisan measures in the senate. pelosi was more ok with it, but i was wondering if you knew if they are going to try to use it to discourage -- it is not the 2013 immigration bill because it did not have

adequate support. thank you. host: that has stirred role-- guest: the majority of the majority. my sense is that right now this is a matter of trench warfare. kevin mccarthy has to win the speakership. if he thinks his conference should go along with legislation, say, something the senate passes, he will do whatever he has to to. thing for something he does not want past. i cannot see something like the pastor droll, which is not cast in stone -- host: it is part of the conference rules. what do we know kevin mccarthy, leader mccarthy's plans

legislatively? what is their plan for the next congress? guest: they have identified three things. they want to bring inflation down, although it is not clear what a republican held house with a democratic senate and democratic white house can get done -- lower crime. he has been vague. , the border of course -- the border, of course. a lot of this will be sending messages rather than passing legislation. kevin mccarthy is trying to keep it all together. you have the presidential race gearing up. donald trump has already announced he is running. you have a lot of republicans acting like they will probably run. he can attempt to be an island

of stability within that whole circus. whether he can pull that off, i don't know. h hase attempted to become speaker in the past, but has not out there. i'm not sure he has the skills to accomplish anything significant, besides allow his congress to have a lot of hearings and block legislation. host: on the lame-duck, the headline is " congress returns to packed agenda." the majority whip said on sunday that one of his priorities is passing the electoral count act, governing how congress handles presidential election disputes. well that make it across the -- will that make it across the finish line? guest: i don't know.. last year when you had people

storming the capital, claiming the election was stolen -- the electoral count act was written in such a way that there is some swishing us. they want to make it clear that the role of the vice president's ministerial -- some swishiness. they went to make it clear that the role of the vice president's ministerial. you cannot have alternate slates decided by the state legislature. the aim here is to make sure we do not ever go through that again, and it is clear when the votes have been cast and counted, we know who the next president is. host: william in buffalo, new york, democrats' line. caller: is there any possibility

that the members of the congress will give up the notion that they are there to win arguments with one another and begin to employ what i would call, a candy store rule, where if you want something, you have to give something? that is the way you pass legislation. that is the way you keep the promises you made to your constituents when you won your election, whether you are a democrat or a republican. winning arguments does not get you solutions to problems. the people who sent you -- guest: that is a good question. i actually like partisanship. that might sound counterintuitive, but partisanship is a good thing.