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communities big and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service. giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up on washington journal, republican representative clay higgins, talks about his party's priorities and plans to address the situation at the border. who also talked about the house gop agenda. later, brendan boyle share his priorities for the 118 congress. be sure to join the conversation with your calls, text, comments, and tweets. >> "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: as in any new congress,

the office start with the sprint. house republicans are no exception. among the bills passed so far this week, if they became law will rescind new funding for the irs. create a subcommittee to look at what republicans are calling -- most of the bills passed will not become law is a democrat controlling the senate. but that may not be as important as a path that has house republicans taking a stand on issues they promise to tackle. the direction in which they were still the country. hello and good morning. welcome to the program. we start with asking you about the house majority, the direction of the republican majority so far. do you approve? that line is 202-748-8000. if you disapprove 202-748-8001.

you can send us a text 202-748-8003. make sure you tell us your name and where you are texting from it. on facebook and twitter and instagram @cspanwj. they're getting to work earlier in the house today. somewhat typical they start work this morning at 9:00 eastern. it will be of shorter program this morning. the direction of the republican majority, if you approve or disapprove. front page of usa today, congress turns up the heat. the new congress is also a fiery start wasting no time before diving in heated debates about the quote secret deal that helped kevin mccarthy when -- win. those face-offs come on top of the other routine debates

between republicans and democrats in congress who often disagree on governmentpending, the debt ceiling, and abortion. in this first week alone, the delayed somewhat because of the speaker election last week, what the house is passed so far mainly along republican lines, they have rescinded a bill that will resend new funding for the irs. the president had proposed -- congress proposed a greater increase and created a select committee on composition with china. that passed by a bipartisan majority 365-65. they are establishing a committee under quote weaponization of the federal government. it passed a resolution condning a tax and we will hear more about that. they're goi to take up today a measure that will restrict the energy secta from selling petroleumroour strategic

preserves to china. the question for you, do you approve or disapprove of the direction so far? if you approve. -- if you approve 202-748-8000. if you disapprove 202-748-8001. from the new york times, a bill that the subject daughters -- doctors to prosecution. to push through legislation that the subject doctors who perform abortions to criminal penalties. they write, the measure have brought to the floor has taken control has no chance of passing and democratic-controlled senate. his consideration was an early effort by the gop to appeal to his conservative base which is made opposition to abortion rights a litmus test. without alienating a group of

moderate voters at the disapprove supreme court overturned roe v. wade. i'll be democrats hold off an expected red wave -- helping democrats hold up an expected red wave. do you approve of the house majority so far in this session? rick is uppers. caller: i disapprove. the most ready illustration with republicans is the fragmentation that occurred during the election a speaker of the house. the upcoming proposed investigations into hunter biden's laptop, some other such things, they are nothing more than political theater. the deal is most americans would

like to see politicians not play politics but solve problems. host: in ohio, doug you are on the line that disapproves, tell us why. caller: it is lipservice for the republican party. they're trying to get revenge because trump was the most crooked president ever. they're trying to make biden look bad. they're not doing anything. they wasting taxpayers money. host: laurie in california, hello. caller: i disagree. george lopez, for them not to do anything for him. defining the irs. -- defunding the irs. we need to come together and stop this craziness. i disapprove. host: you disapprove of what has

been done? it is your feeling there will be more of the same in the coming months? caller: yes. host: from anna ladner who sponsored one of the abortion bills that pass on the house floor yesterday. [video clip]'>> all children should be welcomed with joy and wonder. no matter the circumstances of their birth. too many of these little ones are denied the medical care they need to survive and thrive. simply because they were unwanted. this common sense legislation will require health care providers to administer the same level of care to the babies who survive abortions that they would to any other child born at the same age. i hope that my colleagues and the others of ei will again join

me in supporting -- the aisle will again join me in supporting the act ascended -- as some did when it passed the house in 2015 and 2018 with bipartisan support. i want to be clear this bill has nothing to do with the supreme court decision in dobbs. the act restricts state's ability to implement dobbs as they see fit. i strongly believe the state should control life policy making it just lies i support exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, but today we are considering an entirely separate issue. when considering the protection of infants -- well considering

the protection of f's that have been delivered alive after an attempted abortion. i am for my colleagues to put aside -- implore my colleagues at the left side of politics and stand in support of lifesaving care for these newborns. host: the abortion measure passing yesterday with a couple of democratic votes in bill. do you approve or disapprove of the direction so far of the house republican majority? if you approve, 202-748-8000. if you disapprove, 202-748-8001. dietetics, democrats -- via text, democrats do not control the senate. our approve of the majority getting us back on the rails. republicans have no direction. mccarthy said yesterday george santos did nothing wrong. santos should have been elected speaker of the house. he embodies the true values of the republican party.

patrick says, starting with the speaker, there are some biden for the american people. more would have been done by not having a speaker to stop loss -- laws. good morning to selena in new york. caller: good morning. i do not approve of what the republicans did yesterday regarding abortion. it is only about abortion. the reason i do not approve of what they did is because i, and nobody else has the right to tell me what to do with my body. just as i cannot tell anybody to do with their body, they cannot tell anybody else. i do not care if you believe in god or not. it is wrong for another person to think they are qualified to

tell me to do with my body and their frightening doctors. host: max in maryland on the approved line. caller: good morning. it is interesting going into the new congress. the last couple of days with what is going on in the house, you have heard people call in that are telling this hard-core line of one side of the other. now after trump was in office, there were three impeachment hearings, all types of stuff going on, even during coded when they -- covid when they wanted the guy to cure every body of covid they were still impeaching them and now they are saying, the democrats line, they are saying it is theater. their focus would not do the same thing. it is not theater.

it is the government we have now. you have to one of each other -- one of each other. everybody got mad at the house republicans arguing over who was going to be speaker of the house. imagine if we had a third party, it means no one would have gotten elected unless they change the rules to the plurality of the votes. that idea never came up. it is taken for granted that you are on one side of the fence or the other and you cannot stand the people on one side of the fence or the other. host: charles in georgia. caller: this new congress is doing the same thing with all the rest. one person get blamed for something, they come in there

and they want to do the same thing and blame the other person. the people who voted them in their, put them on a leash. they're not doing nothing for them to help them out. things are bad right now. even in georgia, things are bad. another country is really bad. they need to pull together and help people out. that is all i have to say. host: ron in iowa. caller: good morning, america. all these people calling in that disapprove of everything the house is doing, they are all complicit. every one of them, especially the chum fighters, in helping -- trump haters, in helping the democrats destroy the country.

look at all the crisis biden has. he needs to be impeached. host:rom the hill this morning, the headline, gop division over social security and medicare, because forecast tough ice ahead. house republicans they write are divided over cost of medicare and social security setting up what could be a fierce internal clash over the future nations top programs as congress delves into budget price later in the year. some in gop say everything is on the table and are eager to use the upcoming debt ceiling negotiations to extract promises to reduce government spending including entitlement funding. on the abortion bill, democratic leader hakeem jeffries on the floor of the house dismissing the efforts by republicans as an effort to criminalize abortion care.

[video clip] >> the larger 18 congress has begun and the difference is between our side of the aisle cannot be any clearer. they may reiterate, as democrats look forward to finding common ground whenever possible to solve issues of consequence on behalf of the american people, but we oppose extremism whenever it rears its head. democrats have made clear where going to continue to work on issues like lower costs, better paying jobs, safer communities, defend democracy, ensure economic opportunity in every single zip code, and fight for reproductive freedom. my republican colleagues, you promised to come to washington to fight for the american people , but i spent a lot of time fighting each other.

not working on issues related to the public interests. the last few days have indicated extreme maga republican agenda. on monday, you pass a bill designed to allow the wealthy, well-connected to cheat on her taxes. subsidize the lifestyle of the rich and shameless. not working class families. not middle-class families. not low income families. not veterans. not every day americans. the wealthy, well-connected. on tuesday, you come to the floor and you pass a select committee on insurrection protection. a committee that is designed in the words of some of my

colleagues on the other side of the break i'll to obstruct -- the aisle to obstruct justice as far as your evidence to eventually define -- defined the fbi. on wednesday, you come to the floor. nothing on inflation. nothing on quality-of-life issues. nothing on public safety. but you come to the floor as part of your march decriminalize abortion care. to impose a nationwide ban, to set in two motion government mandated pregnancies. that is a distinction for today. as democrats, we believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. a decision that should be between a woman, her family, and

her doctor. parka -- we believe in roe v. wade. woman's health care protection act, that is it. freedom to make your own reproductive health care decision, that is it. as compared, to a clear effort, that is what this bill is about today. a march towards criminalizing abortion care. i nationwide ban. government mandated pregnancies. part of an extreme maga republican agenda. we continue to extend our hands a partnership if you want to work on quality-of-life issues, but we have not seen it. we have not seen it on monday, tuesday. we are not saying it today.

we oppose this bill. let's get back to the business of the american pit -- people. host: our opening question for you on the direction of the house republicans majority so far in the first full week of legislation, if you approve, 202-748-8000. if you disapprove 2-748-8001. couple of comments here, there is no clear direction. the 50 impose it's a kevin mccarthy to get elected speaker shows their effectiveness. approved, the biden crime family which is why reaching into our government, emails, and hunter laptop will attest to widespread corruption. joe, i approve, they ran on cheap gas, cheaper groceries, ethics the border. when the public's do nothing, it

helps everybody. from harry, these republicans do have something to prove to their base. jennifer in california. caller: hello. i would like to speak about the abortion situation with the republicans. it is inflammatory because there are so few infants from abortion born alive. it is one of these things they fire up their base. this whole think about babies are born alive. it is not a issue. there are so many women, maybe they might be in college or 35 years old, and have already

children in dallas and they cannot afford another child -- the house and they cannot afford another child. from my perspective, i'm in my late 50's, not an issue for me anymore, but women and families should be able to decide whether or not bringing a child into the world is going to benefit that child or be a detriment to society. that is my perspective. host: i think we lost you but we got the point of your comment. we go to jesse who approves of the direction. caller: hello. host: you're on the air. caller: i want to voice my opinion.

i am for it, 100%. this is a good point. we are into the right direction. we have got first -- put god first. abortion is not health care. it is called murder. i think a woman, if she does not want to have children, and the man does not want to have children with them, they should not lay down together. be responsible enough to make the right decisions and not get billed out every time somebody gets in trouble. host: ernest in north carolina. caller: good morning. i disagree because this is like

a witch hunt. some republicans -- the rules and i believe that. health care and woman's right to not barricades. abortion should -- the woman should have the right. to say with a one over they do not want. host: john in massachusetts, john approves of what he see so far. caller: thank you for taking my call. i understand they call any -- everyone extreme maga person and they use different words for homeless.

why can it take weeks to figure out who want an election by a takes a few days to figure out who the speaker is and everybody says it is the end of the democracy. nobody seems to care but donald trump had the right to declassify so why is nobody freaking out about what a to democracy it is. it is contradictions they make on the democratic side. it is ridiculous. have some fairness. all republicans are extreme, ultra maga and racist mbappe people will use people -- words -- but when we use words like illegal aliens, where insensitive. let's think about the other side. host: he covers congress for cbs news and tweeted about the new committee on what is being

called up weaponization of the federal government. scott mcfarlane from yesterday, house democrats calling a committee they expect to participate and take their seats on the new house subcommittee on the low but as a government. herrings are ahead and indicative of that is this headline in the washington times, inquiry of biden family begins. house republicans on wednesday kicked off their promising investigation into president biden with demands for information from the treasury department and testimony from former toter executives. the house chairman provided a preview of an intense politically charged investigation. he is now armed with subpoena power says the committee's investigation into mr. biden's suspect involvement in foreign

moneymaking schemes of his son hunter biden ranks as the top priority. the democrats no longer have one party rule in washington. oversight and accountability is coming, he said. january in texas, disapproving of congress so far. caller: i very much disapprove. how could anybody approve? at the republicans take over, your social security is done. hillary clinton said years ago, this is a living. we better wake up and look. where you going to do with your elderly people, when there social security is gone? that is what the republicans are about.

with joe biden, i say investigated. we got to get past this thing. we got to move on from that but the big think is crazy social security -- cutting social security. they are angry just white men. host: rest -- russ in ohio on the approved line. caller: i approve. both sides need to be watch. i do not think one side is perfect. we do have to have somebody to look at each other and see what each other are doing. host: there seems to be growing concerns over the fate of freshman republican congressman from new york, george santos. from the new york post, their

headline, new york republican representative nicole a lot of calls for disgraceful representative george santos to resign. he joined other republicans demanding for santos resign calling tim quote unworthy of the office. sentiment echoed by dusty johnson from south dakota talking to reporters. [video clip] >> on george santos can make the decision on to resign. i have been clear in public and i am -- there is concern raised by how he committed himself during the campaign. and so the ethics committee have an understanding what he did. >> is that the direction things are going? >> i do not have a good sense of what is going on in that room. right now, i do not have a good sense. host: we expect the house in

9:00 a.m. do you approve or disapprove of the direction of the house republican majority so far? four approve -- if you approve, 202-748-8000. if you disapprove 202-748-8001. michelle says, republicans should focus on the mortality rate instead of saving aborted babies. the chance of losing the mother and baby is probable and unacceptable. donna tweeps, beginning of a dumpster story -- fire does not like it's going to be put out for a long time. the houses is barely organized itself. it is far too early to determine the direction they are taking. their hot issues will be front and center. let's give it a few more weeks before passing judgment says tony in florida. joey in atlanta, good morning. caller: good morning.

i'm surprised at how democrats are bent out of shape. they're upset when a person walks into a school and destroys and kills children, yet when it woman kills her own child, they call it a choice. it is murder when anybody goes out and kills people, whether it is in the school, mall, anywhere. it is murder. when it is a woman, and is her choice. i do not understand how these people could not understand that when god said thou shall not kill, it was my recommendation. it was a commandment. the republican party stand on the side of the bible when it comes to abortion. we protect life at all matters. we do not think it is right for anybody to kill anybody, especially when it is your own child. i do not understand how people cannot understand the difference between killing a person in the

body or killing a person at a school. either one of them, either way, it is wrong, people. the democrats have to understand that. they have been brainwashed by this fire schools. it is unbelievable. host: dawn in ohio on the approved line. caller: good morning. king jeffrey guess on their and talks about the abortion. they do not talk about stuff having abortion like condoms and pregnancy tests and stuff they cannot get pregnant. instead of preaching about abortion, and need to prevented. host: the house would be in 9:00 a.m. eastern, our life coverage beginning then. they take up a bill that will

restrict the energy secretary from selling petroleum for marshall charges -- strategic reserves. some of our other live coverage includes coming at 10:00 a.m., u.s. fire administrator will join essential banking representative madeleine dean and richie torres to honor those lost to fires and launch a national fire strategy. live at 10:00 a.m. on c-span two. later this afternoon we hear from the former secretary of state, mike pompeo speaking at the university of chicago here on c-span at 3:30 p.m. eastern and our mobile app and streaming live in spent out of work. -- on c-span.org. in minnesota, go ahead. caller: good morning.

i had a bottle of wine a couple of weeks before christmas, it was called a freak show. it is what the republican congress reminds me of. host: to jean in missouri on the approved line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things to say. hakeem jeffries talks about getting these programs and they are not doing what they should do. the democrats famous saying, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. it is all you have heard from them. republicans have only been there four days and they're trying to get the committee set up. they can walk and chew gum at the same time. as far as the killing of born alive babies, there is such a

thing as same-sex, they have birth control pills, vasectomies, condoms. if you do not want a child, do something about it. do something about it instead of killing a baby that is born alive. when immigrants come in and they have a baby, they become a citizen. these babies are citizens and they have every right as any other american. host: from the washington post, critical of republicans in the house, her thesis, what house gop rep. scott: right. she writes, there were one things mutineers write about. the process of writing and passing laws in the house which george mason envisioned as the grand depository of democratic principle of government has strayed from the idea. they demanded a new set of rules

governing how that change will operate. congress is in a bad spot. he now teaches political scientist at clemson university. it is not serving the purpose for which it is designed, a part of that is the change to the results in debate making for open debate in u.s. house on some occasions. this is a chart in the piece is worth looking at, is says members in the house, members in congress have had little ability to make commitments to bills considered by the house. bills barely reached the floor. the house only vote on amendments approved in advance by the leadership control rules committee. that is changed under the rules package passed for the 118 congress. look far back as in the data

shows the last time they had majority open role on things like appropriation bills were somebody could introduce amendment on the house floor, this case 60% of the bills introduced in that congress, 60% were introduced with open roles. there were far fewer of that open roles and structured roles in every congress sense. anderson in new york. caller: good morning. the question is appropriate because given the mass confusion, just to like the speaker, it was so -- just to elect the speaker. that was not a good optics at all. you took 15 votes to bring the speaker and the first thing they do -- i believe this republican congress is based on personal vendettas and revenge.

there are things going on in this country, for instance, the floods in california. what are they doing about that? they are focused joe biden and his family. this is ridiculous and inappropriate. we are watching and elections are going to come sooner than you think. go right ahead. do what you got to do. you're not going to like the results. host: on to james in wake forest north carolina. caller: good morning. this is a difficult thing. we have team -- my team, the democrats have their team, but i am for what the republicans are doing. we are coming after the bad guy and we got people in their that are going to fight i the democrats do.

the democrats have the press but we have people that are going to fight and we are coming after the bad guy. when you guys call in and say trump was the most trump president, that man was more investigated than any other man in history. it all came out that hillary clinton was behind dirty dossier from russia. that was all fake and proven by the courts and c-span ought to be over that. great abs in d.c. they got a call saying we need to storm the capitol building. he is at home on his ranch because he was involved with fbi. it is so -- host: to is still in

california. caller: i completely disapprove. i believe republicans are flushing our democracy down the toilet. they have no moral ethics and/or santos -- and/or santos is the poster child. i would never understand why people in our country are willing to give up social security and medicare just own the land. women shall have the right to control our future just like men do in this country. that is it. host: from huff post, gop may take representatives along omar after committees after years of islamophobia tax -- attacks. kevin mccarthy has vowed to bar

adam schiff, and omar from serving on committees. it is retaliation for democrats having removed the representative of arizona and georgia from varick committee assignments in 2021. the reasons for the ban are little more hazy, refugee from somalia and the first applicant board member of the foreign affairs committee, omar is a frequent target for members of the gop. buck is often claim omar who has represented -- republic is often claim omar is an anti-semite but she says she believes omar -- mccarthy wants her of the committee because she is muslim. if it of the comments from republicans, it is precisely for that reason.

tim in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. the people that think that mccarthy was a disaster, watching government in action is like watching soft is being made. go to your timesheet -- town meeting there was up in a shoreline, it is an outright brawl. i'm proud of our party, of what they went through to put the speaker in place that they wanted to rather than pelosi controlled party where they fall in line. as far as approving of the republican package, one of the things i read every day is clear politics, for the longest time since biden has been in office, the country thinks we are

heading in the wrong direction. even as you move around, we are not in a happy place right now. it is foreboding going on in america. whatever policies biden and administration are carrying out, it is not sitting well with the american people. what the republican party has done, the house i said through a set of principles and agendas that are a counterweight -- has said through a set of principles and agendas that are a counterweight. we are not just happy with the direction of the country and this is a set of principles and policies against that. host: william from the nation's capital, go ahead. caller: good morning. i hope i'm not cut off as i sat here patiently. i think the republican party is

absolutely going into the wrong direction. i do not think they are doing anything positive. for all of those people that you allowed to call and have diarrhea of the mouth and just talk on and on, a lot of angry, old folks, there are some of us whose intelligence is insulted by the way in which you structured these conversations. i with them and before who said -- agree with the man who said they could be focusing on other things like infrastructure. host: a number of people part of the issue of the future of social security and medicare. the heart of a piece this morning by david walker, fiscal agenda for the new congress, no

nation including the u.s. is exempt from the loss of finance. he writes, the new congress will have to deal with the debt ceiling in 2023 contrary to assertions by some the federal government cannot default on its debt since payments on the debt are guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the constitution. he writes, if we ever do hit the debt ceiling, congress will have to cut spending, raise taxes, or both to make the numbers work. these are two things fungus does not like to do is why they cry wolf and falsely claim debt ceiling must be raise. he says, it is clear the current debt ceiling has failed to control federal spending and debt burdens. at a simulated more partisan -- it assimilated more partisan debates and should be appealed and replace with fiscal constraint mechanisms focus on achieving gross domestic product levels. he writes, when is congress

going to deal with the fact that medicare hospital insurance trust fund set to run dry by between 28. combine social security trust fund is set to go to zero by 2035. failure to make these problems -- program secure will result in a shortfall of 20% and wrote a false -- defaults will grow over time. from tim in tulsa on the approved line. caller: good morning. very happy that republicans got control of congress. i find it entertaining that length your campaign is an issue that should cause our republican -- a republican to resign but you never heard with the democrats ally like biden and --

that lie and biden that they should resign. our new york congressman those claiming to be a jew and other things, he lied. but the democrat callers saying the republicans are going to cut out such a security. they are lying. republicans are clearly upset. they're not going to attack social security. i approve with great anticipation. washington is a cesspool. 95% vote for democrats in the last election. no republican can get a fair shake. it is a cesspool. the republicans from the country

need to enjoy having good to say. host: you are fading out there. in texas. caller: anytime a group of adults whose job it is to govern is -- has referred to a populist leader in exile is a failure. we are talking about a disgrace. the zealots on the right are acting like sports fans as of this is a super hold victory -- if this is a super bowl victory. talk about the investigations they are going to proceed with. i remember an investigation against hillary clinton. how many test -- hours that she testify and what was the result? after that we saw is cascade of conspiracy theories.

it never ends. my fellow public and americans, he spent too much time online in digital echo chambers. go back to the founding finders -- fathers. you are destroying the values you claim to honor and hold dear. host: an opinion piece on the new cess is in guardian, expect republican house to be just like the speakers debacle. pure chaos. they have passed a number of bills so far in this session. there in 9:00 a.m. eastern to take on two abortion measures -- they're in 9:00 a.m. eastern. they past two abortion measures yesterday. i democrat who was concerned about pulling one-sided and

ignoring attacks from abortion providers. [video clip] >> there has been loss of life for innocent persons are simply providing medical care. she was shot and killed during a protest. from a pastor killed a doctor in clinic volunteer. this legislation is extreme -- an exam initiative. it's recognize the constitutional right of a woman, a doctor, and her faith to make a decision without fear and intimidation. we have a state like mine that has vigilante is him because it is past browsing hunters to intimidate doctors and patients and nurses. this is a day that we must pass a -- stand against.

we are to work together, we must recognize the doctors and nurses and patients who have been intimidated. it indicates there been an increase in violent -- violence. an increase in stocking -- stalking. maybe -- host: some comments from dave in minnesota, he says, a fire starts in deed with every intention to burn down the house. the only issue they shall resolve now is immigration. no more complain about the border without results. i'm a democrat and out pause with the republicans are doing -- i have lost what the republicans are doing. the greater threat of democracy

is one party rule and it is time to end it says j in georgia. mlb tweets between immigration and reproductive rights, gop makes a lot of money using cash cow wedge issues to keep voters sending money of campaigns appear. meanwhile they are raising taxes on middle class and doing nothing to solve the border problem. in florida, russell, good morning. caller: good morning. they started off with an impeachment in the said -- and they should start off with impeachment instead of abortion. host: bill for michigan on the approved line. caller: i approve. republicans need to investigate.

as for santos out of new york, dumb liar. but we have a man that has been lying since he stepped into office as a senator. joe biden since the 1970's this man has been documenting -- document it lies after lies. i would not worry about the man from new york. he has no power. i would worry about the man we have in office who has been lying to us for so long. let's do history. in 2006 when pelosi took over the house, gasoline went up. milk went up. we got rid of her. things got cleaned up. these people put her back in. gas goes back up. mike goes back up. -- milk goes back up. host: tim in georgia.

approve or disapprove yucca -- approve or disapprove? caller: i disapprove. i'm noticing with the republicans, i have not heard one think they have said they're going to fix. it seems like they are focused on retaliation. a bunch of trompe l'oeil this -- trompe l'oeil this. the need to talk to the american people. i do not care about hunter biden's laptop. i do not care about what joe biden might have done. he has this gained running around taking money from people. every president has got some money while they were in office. what i care about is inflation. i care about my 401(k). i care about my plans of the future. i care about the border. instead of talking about the

committees investigating hunter biden and his laptop, let's start committees to fix those problems. host: this is the headline in this morning's washington post, second biden search yields additional classified documents. legal representative is for the president found additional classified material at a second location. the person will not say when the material was found. the second batch was reported by nbc news. the announcement made after the news conference yesterday i white house press secretary who was asked about the first batch of classified documents. [video clip] >> the president was asked but did not answer this question. why did he or someone in the white house and form the american people when the documents were discovered december 2? did have to do with the fact that the election daca --

election? >> is under review by the department of justice. it is under review. i'm not going to get beyond the process. i'm not going to get beyond what the president said. white house counsel laid out a detailed information about this issue on monday. you all have that. the department of justice is independent. there are doing a review. i want to be prudent. it will be more appropriate for my colleagues in the white house counsel to address this. >> we welcome them in the briefing room. there is nothing stopping the president of the united states from disclosing the discovery of these classified documents in his former office before it was under justice department review. >> what i can tell you right now is with the president sets all

of you, he was surprised by this. he truly respects the process here. when it comes to classified documents, he takes it seriously. i leave you to the information the president provided to all of you and just yesterday, in front of many of you, and what the white house counsel shared monday. host: u.s. house coming in 9:00 a.m. a little bit of a shorter program here. respecting this briefing sometime today from hakeem jeffries. the speaker kevin mccarthy likely to do a news conference today. most news conferences are in the house. couple more of your calls on the opening topic this morning. anthony in florida, go ahead. host: -- caller: i think the

democrats are hypocrites. they have the media, social media suppressing the news. half of the people do not know what is going gone as far as immigration, inflation, gas prices are of the roof. to go after a president and go to his house have no evidence whatsoever, just a strong arm a president to not running and running january 6 forever just to prove a point, which is usually the number one topic every day. even while the departure of afghanistan was the worse, they were still running january 6. they do not worry about what needs to be done. they do not put america first. host: jeff in new york on the

disapprove line. caller: i wanted to talk about the democrats and the double standard now that biden has papers they found. he was not even president when he found -- found them. from day one, when trump took office, he was attacked from everybody. that would not have happened, things would have been a lot smoother and the problems we are having would not be there. we are not going to have social security the way the democrats are spending. host: rabbits talking about the house this hour. i sweeping the governor of nebraska yesterday afternoon, to announce senate appointments.

the appointment to replace the seat -- to fill the seat left vacant. in florida, go ahead. caller: yes. i have been arrested in the fact -- interested in the fact that mccarthy would not like anybody else but santos lie and get away with it but here's the other guy in miami named zimmerman that shot a guy, little boy. all those like the same person. we need to stop all this craziness. this lying to people in america because he is sitting there lying and covering up for george zimmerman and covering up the door santos. host: on to robin in georgia on

the approved line. caller: good morning. i want to talk about the documents. this can be solved by doing one thing, it -- if president biden claims he does not know anything about them, look for fingerprints. they have to be on the folders or the paperwork. if he says he did not know nothing about them, run the fingerprints. that would tell the truth, right there. host: we appreciate all of your calls this hour. there is more ahead on the problem. after the break, here on washington journal we are joined by two lawmakers to talklawmake. first off clay higgins of louisiana, a member of the homeland security, oversight, and accountability committees and then brendan boyle of

pennsylvania the top democrat on the budget committee. during the break we will show you the comments of the outgoing governor of maryland, larry hogan, who gave his farewell address in the historic state capitol in the senate chamber. [video clip] >> in his farewell address when he completed his second term, president washington warned americans that if left unchecked partisanship would foster a spirit of revenge and lead to the ruins of liberty. he said that the common and continual mist shifts of the spirit -- mischiefs of the spirit of party is sufficient to make it the interest and the duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. he was right. which is why i believe that more leaders in maryland and across america must stand against the extremes and with the majority

of the people. we cannot let the fringes and factions get in the way of getting things done and solving serious problems. in maryland, we have proven that this is still possible. our story should be a beacon of hope for the nation, which seems more bitterly divided they had ever. america truly is at a critical turning point, one in which the fate of our democracy could be at stake. all of the performative politics , and the angry, false rhetoric threatened not just to divide us politically but to tear the country apart. toxic politics will not restore america. only real leadership will do that. we must reject and overcome

fear, and hatred in our politics and society. and we must work to rebuild bonds of trust and respect amount -- among americans. i recognize that this is a tall task but we have already achieved the impossible. tonight, in this sacred place, where the great experiment of american democracy was literally born i will proudly say that my faith in this country and optimism for her future has never wavered. and that is because of you. the people of maryland, who i have had the good fortune to meet at ballgames, businesses, schools, downtowns, and main streets. i wish that all marylanders and americans can see what i have been able to see up close, every

single day over these past eight years. that deep down there truly is far more that unites us they and divides us. -- than divides us. [end video clip] host: congressman clay higgins is beginning his fourth turn -- term representing louisiana serving on homeland security, the oversight and accountability committee. we will start on the homeland security side of things with the headline in town hall, the house gop is moving forward filing articles of impeachment against the homeland security secretary. you support that effort? guest: yes. we have been discussing that for quite some time. i have had personal interactions with the secretary and i implored him to resign rather than drag the nation through his impeachment. i have articles of impeachment

that i have been working on for about a year. and we will introduce those after the committees are populated and we move into regular business. but yes, sir, we do support his impeachment. host: in a nutshell, what are the key reasons are you calling for his impeachment? guest: without going into the articles him -- themselves, which i sure you understand we are keeping those close, basically the federal government is responsible for securing the sovereign international borders of several states. this is clearly a constitutional requirement. the executive branch is empowered to perform that mission and to maintain operational control of our sovereign borders. the secretary is the executive that has been confirmed by the

senate. he is the secretary of the executive department responsible for executing the policies of this administration. so he is responsible for either successfully executing a policy, or agenda for the president that works. and fulfills his constitutional obligation to secure our sovereign borders. or, once it is recognized that those policies are failing, that it is reflective of his oath. he must make a correction. any reasonable man would look at that sovereign border and understand that second -- that the secretary should be aware that we have a dissolved sovereignty down there. and he is responsible for that.

he has to fix it or be impeached. host: in the previous congress you are the ranking member on the border security sub submit the subcommittee, homeland security. has it been determined that you will chair the subcommittee under the hundred 18th? if so what are your priorities? guest: yes. my republican colleagues will make that final determination. i do expect to be the chairman of the subcommittee. and we most certainly have a very aggressive agenda laid out. again i will not go into details until the committees are populated and we actually move forward. the bottom line is that our nation suffers from extreme failures of this executive branch to execute reasonable and effective policies across our southern border.

that is the arterial bleed and you and i have discussed that before. our nation faces many threats that fall under the jurisdictional authority of the homeland security committee, and yet the most significant threat that we face is the dissolved sovereignty at our southern border and that is the arterial bleed that we must address first. host: he has with us until 8:30 eastern. we welcome your calls and questions for 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. for independents and others, 202-748-8002. president biden is just back from the meeting with the mexican president and canadian prime minister and ahead of that the president of the first time visited the order -- the border

and announced new measures that the administration was taking on border security. what was your reaction to what the president had to say both in terms of el paso and later comments on the border? guest: yes sir. well, we are glad that president biden has finally visited our southern border. one would've thought it have happened long ago, certainly as president. but most americans would have presumed that as vice president, senator, and elected official for over five decades, one would think he was well associated with the challenges at the border, as this entire generation has unfolded. however to our dismay we discovered together as a people that our president did not know anything about the border and had never been there.

so, i think that his visit was predictably staged, scrubbed and cleansed. but i do not know why anybody would be surprised about that. president biden is operating within a very controlled and scripted realm. his handlers make sure that -- make sure of that. this trip to the border was reflective of that ongoing habit. and his interaction with mexico and canada was more interesting. there were some policies announced that allows us to dig a little bit deeper into what his vision might be for our relationships with mexico and canada moving forward, but particularly mexico because they

play a key role in working with america to help us resecure our sovereign border. and i welcome president biden's interaction and his senior staff as we look for immediate solutions to the human and drug trafficking that has been pouring across the border since he has been inaugurated as our president. host: we have calls waiting for you. we'll go first to the republican line in robert -- for robert, charlotte, north carolina. caller: good morning, congressman i want to change the subject on something that the senate homeland security committee has studied which is the alleged influence peddling of hunter biden in connection with president biden to china, ukraine, and russia. "the new york times" has a story

that says hunter biden's tale comes front and center which i find ironic because before the last election "the new york post" wrote about hunter biden's involvement. and i wrote a book called " laptop from hell" which was censored by newspapers and social media. what i am kind -- what i'm concerned about is that has -- have they done business with china to the point where china has something over the bidens. and based on the policies of the biden administration, it seems like we are afraid to confront them on the issues that the last administration was aggressive on. i would try to get your thoughts on the hunter biden and joe biden influence peddling issue. guest: yes sir, and i am one of

the senior republicans on the oversight committee. i am very much involved in the investigations moving forward at -- that the oversight committee will lead and some of the things that we will reveal to america as we move deeper into our hearings over the next of the court -- over the course of the next months and years, some of those things will be stunning to america. the biden crime family is basically what people are going to have to get used to talking about. a lot of this data is yet to be publicly revealed. we as investigators in the oversight committee, myself particularly, focused on the suspicious activity reports that have been thus far concealed. 150 suspicious activity reports

were filed on the biden organization, the biden crime family, i call it, over the very -- over the course of a very short period of time. those who do not know what a suspicious activity report is, they are quite rare. some folks live their entire life moving money around through businesses and investments and never have a suspicious activity report filed. the small group of the bidens including hunter and joe, the big guy, they have a hundred 50 sar's filed and 148 have been concealed and we had been going after those and we will get them. there is no telling what they will reveal. as an investigator we look for pure evidence, evidence that any reasonable man will see that this is untainted and unbiased

evidence. there is a pandora's box of unknowns within the sar's. so sir, i hope you are satisfied with that answer because it is reflective of our focus, attitude, and professionalism with which we will pursue our investigations. host: jay in walnut, mississippi. independent line. caller: yes sir, mr. higgins. i would like to say that it seems like every time we have an election, the democrats keep saying that they are going to -- that the republicans will cut out social security, medicare, and you know i am an old person. eileen conservative. i you -- i lean conservative.

i used to be a democrat but there are no democrats in the party now. so i wish that you would just look these people in the face and say that you will not cut out medicare and social security. thank you. guest: i am happy to speak to my beloved elders across the country. we will never allow your social security earnings to be cut or reduced, reflective of what you paid into the system and earned. in fact, i am a very vocal supporter of the social security fairness act. and i pushed very hard on that bill in the past congress, the closest we ever came to bringing it to a full and solid vote. the bill had over 300 cosponsors and we could not force it to the

floor for a vote. just to clarify, that requires 218 yes votes, so what would think with over 300 cosponsors for the social security fairness act, it would have been brought to the floor. host: what would the bill dooley? -- what with the bill do? guest: reverse the laws that see is large portion of alternate retirement income that any americans in the sovereign states have earned retirements from state systems that were not social security. they earned both. paid into the social security system at some point in their life and earned that to that formula and earned a retirement as a police officer, fireman, or teacher in many of the sovereign

states. according to the current law, one half of the other retirement say as a cop, if you have $1000 in retirement the current law seizes half of that. so my retirement would be reduced by 500. if more americans are planning their retirement and they very unfairly subject to seizure for some of their earned retirement. not only do i promise american elders across the country that republicans would never allow your income through social security to be reduced, we further promise that if conservative principles are allowed to be pushed through congress and the senate and signed into law by any president, we will re-stabilize the social security system so

that it stability is never threatened. and we will introduce and pass laws like the social security fairness act that would reverse existing legislation that currently penalizes many and millions of americans. yes sir, i promise you. host: of, virginia. matt on the democrat line. caller: it is definitely interested to hear a solid member of the george santos republican party who works with lies and half-truths to -- truths to talk about his policy. of course for the elders you will not cut their social security. for the rest of us under the age of five you will destroy social security for us because you do not have a plan to keep it in structured place. i do not want to talk about social security, i want to talk about secretary mayorkas. the purpose of impeachment is to try officials who have committed

high crimes and misdemeanors. you are talking about you disagree with the policy. that is not a high crime or misdemeanor. that is the policy works differently than you would like. you do not talk about why are these people coming 2 america currently or the republican and democratic policy towards venezuela that destroyed their economy and now all of their people are coming to their country. you don't talk about the despots that we supported in nick a while brought -- nicaragua and because their people to flee the country. in el salvador we do not talk about how america is the bitcoin capital and the president has semi-destroyed their economy there. all of the things that we do in this country have effects outside of us and you just want to deal with the results of those things and not with the sources of all these people

fleeing their countries. host: we will let you go. we will let the congressman respond. guest: i hope you feel better and i am glad i can be here for you. i hope your rehab is going well. you might not have wanted to talk about social security so you did. i want to tell you that you are wrong. we most certainly have a plan, it is a very detailed plan to restabilize social security. we will not crush the social security plan and income of americans under 65. but perhaps you are not interested in those facts. they are hidden in public data. do your research. next talk about the impeachment. you make broad presumptions of what articles that i have not introduced. let me say that the articles of impeachment that i introduced

when i am ready to introduce them will have very specific impeachable acts enumerated. so, keep watching, good sir. you are going to be ok. we will make everything better. host: onto hard -- into carla -- on to carla, republican caller. caller: how are you today? my thing is that i love you, you and mr. kennedy are my favorites as far as hosts. my question is that we have -- i have seen the omar shift -- but you also need to -- i cannot say i am tired but i am trying to figure out the whole situation of democrats thing about abortion.

i do not understand their logic and why people are thinking the way they are. i think that maybe somewhere along the lines that our society has lost morality. but, i think that nancy pelosi is still in charge of the democrat party no matter what anybody says. it is not hakim jeffries. host: the house passed a couple of abortion-related measures yesterday, what was your view? guest: i supported them wholeheartedly. i am a solid pro-life american. i make no apologies for that. our nation has suffered generational spiritual injury over the last 50 years. millions and millions and

millions of babies slaughtered in the womb. we will gradually recover from that as a people. we must accept responsibility for what we have done to our most innocent and are most vulnerable. children of god in the womb, slaughtered by the millions. the numbers i have, 96 million. so as we move deeper into the era of recovery for our nation regarding life and the sanctity of life in the womb, america will have the opportunity to embrace responsibility for what -- for what we have done. each of us on our own dirt -- journey spiritually, we will deal with the lives that we have lived including whether or not we have supported the murder of

innocent children in the womb. and it is a clean slate right now for us for the future as we move deeper into the protection of life era. both legislatively and i say again on a deeper level, spiritually. the good lady mentioned that her concern regarding the democrats and their policies and who is in charge. let me ca -- let me say that the torch has been passed to hakeem jeffries. they are quite a socialist party now. the democrats and the liberals in my family, of course i love and respect them but also

recognize that we are quite diverse in our beliefs and what we think is right for the future of our country and what our core principles support can be quite different. so the democrat party and the republican party as represented in the house of representatives, your house, the house of we the people, we have different ideological perspectives. yet, we are bonded as blood -- bonded as one this is an anointed nation. america will always find a way forward as long as our relationships and interactions are built upon love and respect. then we will find a way forward. host: james in huntsville, alabama. independent line. guest: mr. higgins, i hope you do not say you have not seen the video of the man who was killed

in 2019 in your state even before mr. george floyd was killed. it went all the way to the stop -- to the top, all of it. one of the officers said it was awful, lawful. and during the situation the man was handcuffed, shackled, they picked him up by those shackles and dragged him on the ground. are you going to push that the nation should see this video and witness what happened? have you talked to mr. kennedy about it? it is and y'all's state. you should bring that to the forefront. i should push -- is my question, are you going to push that the nation sees this video? guest: thank you for the question and if i may respond. i have been watching that case

from the beginning. i am a brother of the thin blue line and i have been a cop for a long time and i am a peace officer and maintain that certification. i have since 2004. i was a street cop for a long time. there is no rule in the -- room and the brotherhood of the thin blue line for a violation of civil rights. our hope is to protect the constitutional rights and freedoms of every american. and what happened in louisiana in that case is something that i have been watching very carefully. i simpler -- i support a full and deep investigation. the investigation itself has very sensitive data. i respect the decisions that are made regarding release of

material as the prosecution and investigation's move forward into what happened. i do think that, had i been the governor at the time, i would have pushed for a faster release of information and data. and, a deeper and more public investigation. however i was not the governor, nor was senator kennedy. nor was my friend, the attorney general jeff landry. john bel edwards was our governor and he is a democrat governor. that incident, that horrific incident happened at a time when a reasonable man would look at the timeline and say perhaps it was political motivation from our governor as to why that investigation was not deeply

revealed just prior to his reelection. so, yes sir, i support full reveal in that investigation. host: congressman clay higgins of louisiana, beginning his fourth term serving the state. thank you for being with us on washington journal. guest: thank you for having me and god bless. america will be ok. host: there is more ahead. we will be joined by congressman brendan boyle, the top democrat on the house budget committee talking about his new role in the priorities and the battle ahead over issues including the debt ceiling. all of that ahead on washington journal. ♪

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>> washington journal continues. host: brendan boyle's is with us next, the congressman of philadelphia will be the ranking member in the budget committee. i want to start with some comments that we heard in the first hour and with congressman higgins about what you understand republicans plan to do or might plan to do in the area of social security and medicare. guest: i just go back to what one of the top senate republican leaders said before the election and what kevin mccarthy as well as others have said and that is that they plan to use the debt ceiling as leverage to essentially hold raising it hostage in order to win cuts to social security and medicare. now, i am amazed that they were that want and to their credit and came right out and said what they intend to do. i think it is clear that that is

their position. it is hardly a new position. and on the democratic side, whether it is the president or those on the democratic outside we will stand and fight that. host: what do you think it has to be done for social security and medicare to make them stable? guest: to be clear there is not enough revenue coming into social security now to pay 100% benefits and that is a case until 2035. admittedly, the middle part of the next decade we run into a significant funding shortfall which will continue mostly because of demographic issues and the aging of our population and the fact that we do have fewer workers today paying into the system as opposed to what we used to have. very simply we need more revenue into the system. i am the sponsor of social security 2100 along with john

larson. we have a plan out there and i hope that we will soon be voting on it towards the end of last year, it did not happen but i am a strong supporter of it. the idea is that you have people making millions of dollars a year and yet they only pay a fraction of social security meaning that they are paying a far lower percentage. most wage earners that i represent in philadelphia. host: the lines are the same as they were before. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and for independents and others, 202-748-8002. you are in "the washington journal," "early talks begin on a rarely used tactic for the debt ceiling. you are trying to use a tactic to dislodge a bill from the committee and move it to the floor." what are you trying to do in

terms of the debt ceiling? guest: it is a well-written, and i think that the headline might not be totally consistent with what is in the piece. from my view i have expressed words of caution about the discharge petition process and a lot of people have been bringing that up in the past. we saw historic dysfunction on the house floor last week, the first time in a hundred years that we had to go more than one round to vote for speaker, the longest that it lasted since before the civil war. many people are understandably nervous, as mi on whether or not the dysfunction on the house republican side will prevent us from being able to raise the debt ceiling. a lot of people immediately turned to discharge position. here is a challenge, it has only been used once in the eight years i have been here and twice in this century because it is difficult to do.

you need 30 legislative days before you can give -- begin the process. 30 legislative days means 2.5 to three months in real calendar time. you then need to hundred 18 signatures meeting at least six house republicans to buck party leadership. and then nine legislative days after that and then there are stalling tactics that a speaker could use. you can also use a discharge position on any senate passed bill, so any bill from the senate is ineligible. i would actually, as you can tell, express a few words of caution about the discharge petition and we should shift focus on where it should be. it is the house republican leadership. kevin mccarthy is responsible and republican leadership are responsible to do the right thing and raise the debt ceiling , as we have done almost 100

times in the last 100 years. and most of the times it has been raised it was under republican presidents. keep in mind when we are talking about the debt ceiling to be clear, we are talking about past spending. spending that congress has voted for in many of my colleagues on the others of the aisle voted for the bills that helped increase the national debt. were talking at the debt ceiling , we are not talking future spending. but whether or not we will pay the bills that we already ring up. host: briefly what do you expect the upcoming budgeting and follow-on appropriation season to be like? guest: so first by statute the first monday in february is when the president is supposed to release the budget. that is when the budget committee kicks into high gear and as you mentioned i am the ranking member and i'm very excited that i was elected to that position. i had a good conversation with

my republican counterpart who is a friend and someone i work well with. it does not always have to be a battle. there will be times when we fight one another on principle and where there are ideological disagreements but there have to be ways in which we work together and i think we will be able to do that. host: let us start with mike in reston, virginia. democrat line. you are on. caller: good morning congressman. i am -- have me time. i think if it was not for -- i think if not for certain things the republicans will never win a majority in the house in the electoral congress should be abolished. the congressman before was talking about sar.

if you withdraw $3000 it has to be reported. it does not prove that they are vultures. for social security and medicare, republicans intend on cutting it down. tim scott said it. johnson said it. and many other republicans say they cut taxes and how do they do that, they cut social security and medicare. now for the border security, i want to ask the other congressman how would you secure the border? we have border agents and how do we stop people from coming? it is not 100% proof. people come in and stay and overextend their vias up. the republicans all they do is they want to take these people out and there against abortion

and yet they are all for guns. i just do not understand it. host: several things. your comments. guest: thank you for the call and i will try to briefly make a list so i could address as many as these points as possible. first up gerrymandering, the caller is right. specifically the state of florida and ohio as well as texas really hurts the democratic side. florida i think there are four districts alone that we can count to that republicans picked up as a result of aggressive gerrymandering that desantis pushed through over the initial objections of republican legislators in tallahassee. the maps in ohio and texas also did not help us. there is no question of -- i have though to get -- i voted against gerrymandering we had a bill that would have eliminated it.

also i have to say and there might be semi-i party that disagree with it. i'm not a fan of unilateral disarmament. i do not like the fact that we have band gerrymandering -- banned gerrymandering in blue states and in red states they gerrymander as fish -- as viciously as possible. there should be one set of rules that ban gerrymandering. in terms of social security and medicare the caller mentioned more republican members that i did not buy say that want to support -- to cut social security and medicare. some might say no, we do not want to touch social security and medicare we just want to balance the budget in 10 years. guess what, it reminds me of when they asked willie sutton why do you rob banks, he said that is where the money is. you're not going to balance the budget in 10 years without drastic cuts in social security and medicare.

just remember that anytime someone on the underside attempts to dodge the issue of social security and medicare and focuses on balancing the budget. finally and briefly on guns, another tragedy in virginia with a teacher being shot by a six-year-old who brought a gun to school. my wife is an elementary school teacher who teaches second grade. it is sickening the level of gun violence that we have in the united dates that touches every state and community. a strong part of the solution that not all part of it would be tougher gun laws. host: here is south carolina, david. a republican caller. caller: hello. i will have to congratulate the democrat party in convincing half the nation that gerrymandering is only done by republicans or equal weighted with republicans and making adjustments to social security

schedules given the change in demographics is called cutting and destroying and coming after their social security. you just said it, all reasonable people agree due to changes in demographics there have to be adjustments to the schedules used by social security in order to maintain it. but, you succeed in demonizing republicans because they talk about the need to make adjustments and they want to do it sooner than you would like. if it is done gradually and wisely, gradually, it might save social security. no, well, the other guys get to talk longer. host: thank you. we will let the congressman respond. guest: thank you for the call. one of the adjustments that have been proposed by republicans over many decades is lowering,

-- i wish it was lowering the age, it was increasing the retirement age. i strongly oppose that and let me make clear why. in the last three years in the united states the average life expectancy has dropped by 2.7 years. that is a first and americans is that history and a deeply disturbing statistic. it is not typically something that happens in the wealthy, western world. a part of that has been because of opioids and other addictions. and then, obviously covid. those are not the only two reasons. the idea that you would increase the retirement age when the time that the average life expectancy has plummeted almost three years is something i oppose and it is unnecessary. we have a bill out there that as the name suggests would solidify the program all the way through the year 2100.

there is another part of the tax bills that people would have to look at and i would direct this to the trouble pointed head of the irs, charles reddick. he made clear that there are hundreds of billions of dollars a year that go uncollected because we do not have a proper audit process for the realty has point -- audit process for the wealthiest .1%. we have taxes that are hard to dodge for the system, but very financially wealthy people, as we saw to a certain extent with donald trump's tax returns. in order to have a proper audit you need people who specialize. that takes the proper authorities who have a certain expertise. it is a wise investment that we need to make. we started that last term in the bill that was able to be passed and we need to make sure that that keeps it going.

host: the republicans passed a bill that would eliminate that funding for those tens of thousands of additional irs personnel, not just agents, correct? guest: i am glad that you brought this up because the bill is projected by the nonpartisan congressional budget office would increase the budget deficit. they keep talking about how much they want to reduce the deficit. their very first bill was projected would increase budget deficit by over $100 billion. host: because of less tax collection. guest: exactly. it is projected that our bill that hired more auditors and i.t. people and customer service agents to help folks with the returns process and that is a revenue raiser because of what they will find. host: that bill will probably not be taken up. guest: i think it will not be called out -- called up. host: it should be brought up

during appropriations time. guest: that is probably more of a question for someone on the republican side that i probably expect that it will. host: emma in washington on the independent line. caller: hello. host: just it was a favor and mutes the volume on the television and then go ahead. caller: ok, first time caller. i do not understand why the democrat party is not talking more about how the treasury department in the last two years has compounded the deficit. in 2021 they have brought down the deficit and in 2022 the final results are out they brought it down by $1.4 trillion. the next is i do not understand why the democrats are not talking more about dea has done thing 50.6 million pounds of

fentanyl. and then why aren't they talking about what trumpeted during his four years in office? the deficit rose every time he was in office. that is my comments and thank you. host: thank you for calling. guest: i heard -- i am honored that your first call was a call in with me and i need to hire you to help us out on the house democratic side because all three of the points you made were correct and excellent. i will follow-up on a couple of them. the caller is right. over the last two years under president biden and democratic-controlled congress we have had the largest drop in american history in the deficit. that is number one. number two, the president who added more to the national debt than any president in american history is donald j. trump. that is a fact. those are the numbers. what is remarkable about that statistic is that he was only

present for four years and he added more than many presidents who actually went on to survey years. finally, the $31 trillion that makes up our national debt, the majority of the $31 trillion happens under republican presidents. host: let us hear from michigan, democratic caller. good morning. caller: i have a question. the tax cut in 2017, it gave billionaires and millionaires a tax cut. they tried to give them a tax cut for life at the same time. at the same time $5 trillion they could not have received from the billionaires and millionaires they did not even tax them and they have not paid taxes since 2017. i notice every time they give the 1% a tax cut we end up in a

situation not good for the american people. and i have another question, what do they plan to do about the $5 trillion that they could've gotten from the billionaires and millionaires? thank you and have a blessed year. host: the 2017 tax cut, part of that was clawed back a little bit or not? guest: part of it was. just to be clear the 2017 tcja which was the acronym for the big tax cut cost just under $2 trillion and according to cbo, 83% of it went to the richest 1%. and more than half of it went to the richest .1 of 1%. it is a great way that you can really tell someone's priority is because everything donald

trump talked about the campaign like when he was campaigning in pennsylvania it sounded like an economic populist. and then in office what was his first priority and you remember that republicans had full control of congress. the first priority was to eliminate the aca or obamacare which would have thrown 20 million people off of their health care plans. that failed. it passed in the house and failed in the senate then they turn to plan b which was a massive tax cut bill. 83% of which went to the richest 1%. four years later under democratic control you saw our priorities and we made it clear with the child tax credit as well as the eitc expansion and a whole lot of things. we raise revenues as part of the bill but we did not actually change the individual tax rates. we put in a corporate minimum tax that way corporations who were getting away with gaming

the system without paying anything would have to pay 15%. we also did some things to crackdown on outsourcing and off shoring of jobs. the individual rates while there was a willingness to increase and find a happy medium between what it was before trump and what it was after on the senate side we could not get -- we could not get enough support. host: our guest has a masters degree of public policy in harvard and represents the second district in the city of philadelphia and you are also the cofounder and cochair of the public service loan forgiveness caucus. what would your group like to see one, further action by the administration on the issue of student loans in particular and any chance that congress will -- or the house will take up that legislation? guest: why a republican member who is no longer here, ryan costello who was also from pennsylvania, why we founded

this program five or six years ago, at the time the basic problem of public service loan forgiveness and it came to exist under president bush and democrats in congress more than a decade ago. the basic premise was you enter public service which has a lower salary than the private sector you work hard and you make payments on time for 10 years that you would have the remainder of your student loans forgiven. that is the public service loan forgiveness program in a nutshell. 10 years later when the first people who were eligible started applying we found that the head of the education department the time we found that the rejection rate was over 99%. host: why? guest: there were problems in the way that these applications were being processed which is why my republican counterpart and i stepped into attempt to make fixes to the program so that way those who were promised

and decided to spend the next 10 years of their lives in public service that they suddenly wouldn't at the end of it the left holding the bag. and we have had success for that and i give the biden administration credit. since they have come in they have done things administratively over at the educational department to loosen up the system and make sure those who are legitimately eligible and qualified get this loan forgiveness. that is happening now and has been a real success. a lot of focuses on the student side for everyone else but the public servant loan forgiveness program and the weight has been improved as a success. host: let us hear from harvey in dallas, texas on the republican line. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i want to preface by saying i spend a lot of time watching c-span because it is unfiltered and you do not have commercials. but i see a dysfunctional government.

the other day when they asked the republicans to speak about the issues that they will bring forward and it is unanimous about repealing the republican -- repealing the tax code then i watched the democrat side and the democrats said that they might have passed the house but it will never pass the senate, and mr. biden will never sign it. so we are in a state of chaos and flux. in respects to the speaker, i have heard him say numerous times about republicans this and that. i am a senior citizen and i pay into social security. it was under the johnson administration that they borrowed from the general fund from social security and never paid it back. one of my colleagues said how to handle it, it is our money and be like a banker, call the note and take the money now. it would bankrupt the system,

but people are fed up with this constant stalemate of a power grab and both sides are guilty. that is my comments. guest: thank you, harvey for calling in and i am glad that you watch a lot of c-span i hope we helped boost the ratings last week with 15 rounds of voting for speaker. i am someone and i have the honor to say this to brian lam to thank him for what he has done in creating this institution. i first learned about government watching c-span. so a sincere thank you. i was called the mtv generation i would like to say it was the c-span generation as well. to harvey's point about social security, the reality is that beginning in the late 60's and early 70's between the johnson and nixon administrations the social security surplus did go to general spending and that is

something that both parties have been guilty of. what we are talking about actually goes back 50 years. my view is that harvey if you work hard and pay into social security and now a retiree, he has earned his benefits along like that along with my father who worked over 50 years paying into social security. i feel adamant that they should not suffer one cut. they paid into the program, they have earned it and they should not suffer one cut and it is completely needless to do so. finally about dysfunction, i think we saw a lot of dysfunction last week on the house floor, but in terms of a bill passing the house and running into difficulties in the senate or often -- which is often the case or the other side a bill passing the senate and not being seen in the house, that is not dysfunction, that is the system as james madison,

hamilton, and others designed it. they were concerned about a high concentration of power and rightly or wrongly they designed a system that makes it difficult for things to get done and get done quickly. that is what we have. host: let me see if we can get one quick call. this is in california, go ahead with a quick comment to the congressman. caller: congressman, you need to use that discharge petition to immediately start working on raising the debt ceiling because as a constituent of kevin mccarthy if you count on him raising the debt ceiling we will default for the first time in the national history. i want you to know that. that should be priority one. brian lam is my hero. thank you washington journal. host: you addressed the debt ceiling, anything else you want to add. guest: my condolences on your local member of congress, you can always put my officon