>> washington journal continues. host: this is zach cohen joining us come up with bloomberg

government, he covers congress from bloomberg. extra giving us your time. where -- thanks for giving a short time. where are we when it comes to funding government? guest: we are less than two weeks from the deadline congress set for funding the government, december 15 about the deadline is coming up and there's not even a bill being written between democrats and republicans in the house and senate will fund everything from the military to health programs and everything in between. this is also discretionary spending, but it care, social security is all covered but everything else needs to be worked out. the negotiations are ongoing so we expect in the next couple of days to see a bill that either would be a stopgap measure would pass the december deadline and avoid a shutdown with democrats fully control of washington, it seems unlikely a shutdown would happen. but senior lawmakers are looking for an omnibus, a full government spending bill that

would fund the government through september 30. host: what will this look like as far as spending is concerned? guest: that is the question. don't know how much should go toward defense spending and nondefense spending which is the first critical thing. republicans would like to see more spending on defense in democrats would like to see more spending on nondefense spending. once i get past that they can figure out what goes to what department and that is the first key issue they have to work out. host: as the main package being worked on, is the potential capacitor package and keep current spending levels for the course of a year or so? guest: that is right, have a resolution that the government is on now. the government has been spending at the current levels on autopilot. that expires december 16 and they could opt to do it again.

if they don't have some form of agreement for a full omnibus package, they could opt to create another cr that lasts a week, a month or a year. there are pros and cons for the two parties so obviously if they take it to a week, that could give them enough time to cope with a deal. into january, republicans take over the house and they would like a greater say in that spending package and that is one way to accomplish that. the other operate -- option is a full year, they will not pass a regular spending bill, they would let the government cope in terms of spending decisions and that has riled up republicans because it would meet a cut to defense spending. because inflation is so high it would mean a real cut to defense spending and that is something republicans want to avoid. host: our guest is with us until 8:30, if you want to ask questions, you can call guest: -- in light -- (202) 748-8001 for republicans,

(202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8002 for independence. we have talked about the efforts to become house speaker but as far as chairs for major committees, what should we look out for? guest: most republicans who will chair these committees in the next two years will be the ranking members for the current committee. people like michael mccaul, he's probably going to be chairman of the house foreign affairs committee. there is jockeying for other powerful panels, like the ways and means committee, between congressman adrian smith and others. that should get worked out. there is a set of house republicans that include top leadership as well as rank and file that basically hear arguments over these coming days from these republicans that would like to share these committees and they will make those decisions and that will be up to a vote of the full congress. while certainly a lot of the

work gets done on the floor and in the leadership offices, committees are where a lot of these nitty-gritty details get worked out. we are seeing this in the appropriations process, tate granger is likely to be the chair of the appropriations committee. it will be the first time where all four house appropriators, house, senate, will all be women. these will get worked out. all of them will have a say. host: what is the house judiciary look like? guest: congressman jim jordan likely. i've was talking to the current chair and i asked what he thinks you can get done with jordan. he did not have a great answer, he has not how those conversations yet and that is partly because organ has been focused on oversight and looking into big tech and the department of justice and its actions over the last two years. the house judiciary committee would become the locus of the

oversight proceedings in congress along with the house oversight committee led by congressman james comer. host: i heard it reported that there are 40 or 50 things they are looking into, the strategy to keep investigations going and not overshadow -- will that overshadow slate of efforts? guest: one congress is they know how to walk and chew gum at the same time. we will see. there worked on impeaching former president trump not once but twice, and other committees can focus on other bills, but members of congress can only juggle so much in their heads at one time so we will see publicans, many of whom are to government, most have not been house majority before, we will see them juggling the oversight and the legislation. host: speaker mccarthy was on the sunday show yesterday and talked about the ndaa. first, explain that. guest: it is the national

defense authorization act and it has been going on 60 years. every year congress passes a military possible -- policy bill saying how many ships will be billed, how may planes will be fly? these get worked out every year and the bill gets more dovish democrats and republicans that voted against it. but the majority of both parties vote for this bill. it is being worked out behind closed doors and we could see it drop as soon as today and have key writers in it. mccarthy was on fox news yesterday talking about how it will have a measure that list the requirement that members the military get the covid vaccine, a concession to republicans as they get some sort of deal before they passed the ndaa by the end of the year, a key priority. >> i laid out clearly what will be the majority and we are working on the national defense bill. we will secure lifting that

vaccine mandate on our military because we are finding they are kicking out men and women that have been serving. people are not meeting their recruitment. i had a conversation with the secretary of defense even last night. but next week you will see we have been able to and that is the first victory of having a republican majority. would like to have more of those and we should start moving this now. host: already calling it a victory. guest: exactly and it's not even a majority yet. house republicans have not had as much power in this version of washington because in -- unlike the senate, house republicans don't have the filibuster so they have not been able to do anything other than protest whatever speaker nancy pelosi has brought to the floor. but house and senate republicans have been able to work on this and say if you don't include this measure on the package, we will be able to stall it and not get it across the floor until the end of the year would republicans will have a greater say in how to do this. it is a victory for republicans and it still has to get through the senate where democrats could

also filibuster it. it is one of the key writers to watch and a polarizing issue. host: zach cohen of bloomberg joining us. we start with nelson on the republican line, go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i really have one question. is there anyone in the government or is there any kind of movement in the government to try to deal with the ever-expanding national debt? i believe our national debt is growing somewhere between one and $2 million a minute and i think the national debt is perhaps one of the greatest threats that our country is facing. thank you and i will take your answer off the air. guest: the answer is yes cannot republicans especially have been

interested in using the upcoming debt limit height to avoid a default and force concessions on the mandatory spending that is not being touched in this package we have been talking about, like social security, medicare, medicaid that could go insolvent in the next couple of years absent some hours -- some action by congress. that will cause some disagreement with congressional democrats democrats and the white house who are worried what cuts to social security and medicare would mean for seniors and people who depend on that money. over the next six months or so, the government will officially run out of the ability to borrow money. this happens over and over and the dutch they are usually able to extend the date the government is not able to pay their bills, and before that date you can lift or extend the debt limit but talking to

republicans will include key concessions, including national programs that contribute to national debt. host: you hear from republicans that democrats want to do things with medicare, social security, otherwise. what is on the table versus what republicans want to do and what they can? guest: i was talking with a number two republican in the senate last week and he said there was -- there are a lot of republicans who would like to do something on this issue. it goes beyond supercommittee or a way to study the issue. like to extract concessions, may be the retirement age or privatizing social security. depending on who you ask, folks have different ideas on how to do that but the republicans have not quite coalesced around what those would be, coming from budget committees, top republicans, the republican

study committee, or senator rick scott has their own ideas. as they work through those particular apps, we will start to see the nitty-gritty details. host: in new jersey, democrat line, this is mitchell. >> good morning. i would like to circle back to the debt also. was my understanding that the debt ceiling might be debt -- dealt with in the name duck by the democrats, as it seems like it is one of the few pieces of legislative leverage the republicans will have and when they take power in the house in january. i'm wondering where are we out and what this could mean for policy? guest: it seems unlikely democrats would do anything to raise the debt limit by themselves, and requires using the budget reconciliation

process which takes weeks of floor time especially in the senate in order to get done and there's not time anymore. congress is in session officially for the next two weeks. they would be a hard deadline to do that because at the end of the year, all of legislation in congress resets and that starts at square one. there is not time to do the reconciliation process that would allow them to lift the debt ceiling. but democrats frankly don't want to do that. they would rather have republican buy-in. they extending issue by policies from both parties and they would like fingerprints from both parties on that package. because there are a couple of months in 2023 where they could tackle the issue and it is unlikely they do anything in the lame-duck session, they would agree to anything before the majority of the house.

host: how much of ukraine spending is putting that bill? guest: i don't know off the top of my head but it is a growing chorus, especially in the republican party, saying we should look at this. and billions have been spent to fight off the invasion by russia but there is bipartisan insurance making sure ukraine has the military assets it needs, in order to repel the invasion. there certainly could be somebody that rides on that larger bill. host: and to relief as well. guest: that could happen, sure. host: this is from janet in louisiana, go ahead. caller: hello, mr. cohen. i heard that we built a bomber

for $80 billion. is that true? who okayed that? war is stupid, it out of ukraine. -- get out of ukraine. respect and care in the usa toward others is a must. don't have children you can take care of. trust and integrity. host: thanks. guest: it is possible the caller is talking about the be 21 that was just unveiled last week, that is probably what had been signed off in a previous ndaa what we talked about. interestingly enough this particular defense bill is actually 45 billion dollars more than what the biden administration had asked for at the beginning of this year. so congress is interested in making sure that the military has the robust spending that it had in the past if not more so. host: if you were to ask it

operational question about congress, twitter saying why democrats go over the last minute to work on the budget? guest: good question. it takes a long time to -- it does not take a long time to write the budget. it is mostly building and dollar signs. the key question is political will. a lot of these appropriators are waiting to see what -- where congress would go and how that would change the balance of power in washington and that seems to be the key hold at this point. they have to work out the power and a member of the house, it was not told what the market would be. republicans -- it might have cut into it a little bit. host: joining us from bloomberg government, operational things from congress, we heard about the death of virginia congressman don mceachin. what happens now? guest: yes, he passed away after

a battle with colorectal cancer. the virginia governor will be able to call a special election that will allow virginia voters in that district which runs from richmond down to the border and that will decide who feels that. it is a democratic seat, but whether it will be constructive and who wins the seat, they can't hold a special election with minutes to spare. we are waiting to see when it is called, the congressman's funeral, -- host: last week on capitol hill, new members had to enter the lottery to pick their office. can you ask but how this works? guest: sure.

for most rumors of congress, seniority gets to pick this. you may say i want to be closer to the capital or bigger. if you are a freshman you don't have a say. the 74 members that are living give up their office space, they are jockeying by the incumbents and everything left over goes to freshman. in order to pick this lately better offices from the not so great, they pick discs out of a wooden box and they have done this for decades. that was on friday, something of a bipartisan tradition on capitol hill where members are in a room, you can send someone on behalf but most go themselves because it is fun. you pick number one as max miller from ohio did, you get to pick your office first. he got a nice office in the building. and if you pick last, you will be's duck in the building that

is not the nicest of the three house office buildings. members across the hill are setting up offices now in hopes of getting ready to go before they are sworn in on january 3. host: from the louisiana come out republican line, hello. julian in louisiana, go ahead. -- dropped, let's hear from craig, in texas, independent line. caller: hello. zach, as far as government goes, i believe corruption should be a crime and in every topic and every issue. as far as defense goes, can you comment on why we can't get an accounting audit, of what the pentagon spends?

i heard there may be a trillion dollars missing from the pentagon budget that we don't know where it is going. in terms of going back to ppg scandal of almost billions of dollars, 30 to 50% of that can't be there. there is a lost cause. guest: there's a difference between corruption and mismanagement of money. there are many dollars that have not been accounted on. the other agency, pending the caucus, and is something democrats are interested in doing. republicans have talked about auditing the federal reserve. the same reason. there are house and senate armed

services committees that frequently hold hearings with the top generals and officials of the pentagon are able to ask where the money is spent, how spending on this program goes and that happens in a public setting as well as a classified setting where we have the public don't get to see it because it is classified for national security regions -- reasons. as oversight that does happen. as some would like, and is a different story. host: in minnesota, independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i heard mccarthy say something about they want to get rid of the mandate for the soldiers to not have to get vaccinated. i am not calling him stupid, i'm talking about some of the stupidity that is going on in our country as far as that. i was in the service and i hope

before me my shot record in service. international certificate of vaccination. the war machine it knows that if you go back to war, if construction breaks, water stops running, the rats come back, diseases are going to come back. i have on my shot record, in 1982, i was vaccinated against the plague. they vaccinate against things that have been eradicated. i got vaccinated for cholera, yellow fever, polio. host: what would you like our guest specifically to address? caller: just what i said, thank you for listening. guest: as retiring republican from illinois sits on the generous six committing, has been vocal taking on some of the

far right wings of the party and said i was in the military and also got the list of shots the caller was talking about. i think the difference this time is obviously the covid vaccine was originally authorized as emergency use and did not have quite the full review that would typically be done for these vaccines. that is no longer the case. now there are covid vaccines that do have full fda authorization and are on the same standing as other vaccines. certainly there is reason that the military would be interested in making sure that members of the military stay healthy. a key way to do that -- i've got my boosters for that reason. there's a part of the country that is skeptical. and that is a distinction. host: hakeem jeffries is talking about the new congress and what

they have to say. >> the american middle class and those who aspire to be part of it happened under assault for decades. they have been forces conspiring against them, whether the globalization of the economy, outsourcing of good paying american jobs, rising automation. it has made it difficult for folks to dutch to pursue the american dream. that is not democratic party -- democratic problem for americans. we can build upon they work that has occurred already, the inflation reduction act, infrastructure, investment and jobs, making sure we bring domestic jobs back to the united states of america, implement historic legislation that has already been put in place and look for other ways to build upon the great work. >> i suppose that this stage it

is a thing to say but what is the reality? guest: i had more bipartisan wins than i expected. typically the politics of the midterm cycle make it difficult to reach common ground but there have been bipartisan achievements that the next democratic leader mentioned. can build on this, the u.s., mexico, canada agreement. a bipartisan agreement that re-upped nafta and make changes and one of the last things the senate did before it started the first impeachment trial against president trump, so even in a highly polarized environment they were able to do that. he mentioned the ships and science act, which goes by different names, the u.s. innovation and competitions act, massive boost in spending for semiconductor manufacturing and on shoring those critical supply chains and they were parties were interested in bolstering the last couple of years. there are certainly possible that you could see legislation

passed because the senate, you need 10 republican votes to get anything done. they will have that experience even in the biter and administration of getting stuff done. host: from kurt kamath cocoa beach florida, go ahead. >> good morning and ed thanks for taking my call. your answers are crystal clear, you are a good guest. last week, a guest called in and asked a question about the senate needing 50 republicans, 48 democrats at two independents and how that does not make the senate a majority republican. you do not have the answers, i wonder if you have the answer. thanks for your time. guest: he is talking about bernie sanders and angus king who are independent but caucus with democrats and that gives democrats the majority. it allows them to rule on

procedural questions with vice president kamala harris with the tie-breaking vote. that will affect the georgia senate runoff tomorrow, between rafael warnock and herschel walker. double -- that will determine if democrats are 51 seats which will give the majority on a number of committees and procedural questions, so they can lose a vote, even if joe manchin for instance opposes a bill, they can still get something through this and that is why democrats have a majority even on paper, it looks like more republicans. host: we talked about that legislation last week about when to expect signage from the president? guest: we see the house pass it tomorrow, as far as i understand and the president can later this week. it ticks a couple of days for them to prepare the bill for

ceremonial purposes, there is an enrollment process and after the senate passed the bipartisan change, the house needs to take it up again and said it divided. it is a transformative bill that protects the right to a same-sex marriage. it does not codify the supreme court decision that legalized same-sex marriage but it make sure that people who are in same-sex marriages have the right upheld. host: >> arm congressional gold medal ceremony will be awarded by members of congress led by house speaker nancy pelosi. watch live coverage tuesday morning starting at 11:00 eastern on c-span, on c-span now, our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> congress gets back to work in

the wake of the mid-term election. watch in the next weeks as the incoming 118th congress elects its leaders, makes key committee assignments, greets its new members and sets an agenda for january, 2023. meanwhile, the outgoing 117th congress uses its final weeks to tackle defense spending, judicial nomination and funding the federal government which is set to expire on december 16. follow it live on the c-span networks and c-span now, our free mobile video app. or anytime on demand at c-span.org. >> preorder your copy of the congressional directory for the 118th congress. it's your access to the federal government with bio and contact information for every house and senate member, important information for congressional committees, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. scan the code at the right to

preorder your copy t it's $29.95 plus shipping and handling and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations at c-spanshop.org. >> listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio just got easier. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio, and listen to "washington journal" daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern, important congressional hearings and other public affairs events throughout the day and weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. each catch "washington today" for a fast pace report on the day. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio. c-span, powered by cable. >> now remarks from the chair and vice chair of the house select committee on the modernization of congress. representative derrick kilmer, a democrat from washington state, and south carolina's will timmons, talks about bipartisan relationship buildin