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-- emily wilkins reporter for bloomberg governme. and how to restore trust in government. he is a psident and ceo and partnership of public service. and a new report on congressional earmarks. >> washington journal starts now. ♪ >> welcome to washington journal it is march 6 2023 but we talk

about president biden preparing for another term. suggesting he will run again and telling his accomplishments and bills on infrastructure and other fronts. as a reason to give him another term. potential republican entrance falling out and all about to say in the next hour we want to ask you when it comes to 2024 and that election. (202) 748-8000 if you support joe biden. (202) 748-8001 if you support former president donald trump. or (202) 748-8002 if you are in support of someone else. or you can also text us at text (202) 748-8003.

and you can also join us through social media. president trump gave one of the final speeches and as the headline, when it comes to another term, the final battle they say they way out the grievances and agenda during the speech. here's a portion of the speech from last week. with the prospects of the second term. >> and if you put me back in the

white house, their rain is over. their train will be over and they know it. america will be a free nation once again. we are not free right now area do not have free press or anything. in 2016i declared in your voice and today i declare i am your justice. for those who have been betrayed i am your retribution. [applause] >> i will totally obliterate the deep state. i will fire -- [applause]

>> i will fire the unelected bureaucrats and forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before. sick. these are sick people. and i will put the people back in charge of the country again that people will be back in charge of our country. >> that was former president trump at sea pac -- cpac if you want to see him as president for another term. if you support that run you need to call (202) 748-8001 if you're a supporter of president joe biden call (202) 748-8000 if there is another candidate to your thinking who you think would be better in your minds i than the ones already said to run you can also call us at (202) 748-8002 or text us your thoughts at (202) 748-8003.

and this is a thought from joan greve out of baltimore. progressives have previously shied away from offering endorsement of biden's reelection. but those whispers were quieted to silence at house democrats -- in baltimore, maryland last week. they embrace the idea of president biden's reelection. as he prepares to launch his campaign in the coming's, he appears to set -- set to enter the 2020 four contests with enthusiastic and unified backing of his congressional allies. and on the congressional event in washington dc pete aguilar said i think he can and should run in the house caucus.

and an individual talked about the voting rights and other things that are important to him. here is part of the president's speech yesterday. >> the right to vote. to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty. with it anything is possible but without that right, nothing is possible. this fundamental right remains under assault. conservative supreme court has gutted the voting rights act over the years. since the 2020 election. and done sins -- dozens of anti-voting laws fueled by the lie and election deniers now elected to office. the new law here in alabama

among other things a new congressional map that discriminated against like voters. and what should have been a nude predominately black district. -- been a predominately new -- new predominately black district. -- all of this after a deadly insurrection on january 6. host: one of the things that he touts as running for 2024 is the infrastructure law. this story is saying what is different with the value of the allies. with the project moving from conception to completion more quickly.

when it comes to 2024 issues is your choice the current president, former president trump, or is there another candidate in mind in office called the lines that best represent you. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. we will hear from willie on those who support president biden. good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i support what president biden is doing right now. i think president trump has as much to claim with ukraine as vladimir putin. would you give us examples --

host: when you give us examples of why you think president biden is doing something for the country? caller: he is doing a lot of work to rebuild the country. host: we are taking the next caller, bill. caller: yes president joe biden said he would not have his children i can of racial -- attend a racial school. rachel -- racial diverse school. now, saying that, the president, past president never. never said that he would not have his children attend avenue racial diverse school. host: so is that your only

reason of support for former president trump or do you have other reasons? caller: there are many other reasons. one, he did make our country independent and he did make our country stronger. [indiscernible] host: we will leave it there because your call is breaking up. but if there is another candidate you would like to see. this is logan on -- in north carolina on the another candidate line. caller: i cannot vote for president trump because of january 6. i cannot vote for president biden because of the southern border. someone i would like to see is

sarah huckabee sanders, and the lady from kelly. host: let's talk about those three ladies you listed. why do those choices stand out for you? caller: they are fluent people. you know what i mean by that. i like their views. but like i said ms. huckabee sanders would probably be more like donald trump. that i cannot vote for donald trump. host: you mentioned the former president's u.n. ambassador nikki haley why does she stand out for you? caller: she is educated in our governments way of running things. i think she would be a good candidate. host: to current and former governor in the mix for the caller. this is some of you posting on

our social media. this is mary lynn from our facebook page saying the country cannot continue in this direction. that does not add who the person of choice would be for her. another said i will vote for president biden every time. jerry off of facebook saying when it comes to a choice, he does not list a specific but he says both the current president and former president are too old. those are the choices they are. you can add those as well marissa is next in montana. hello. caller: thank you for c-span good morning america. let me put a shout out to brian. you do not see him anymore but thank you for having washington journal you are a light to the darkness. anyways, i would like to address all the americans out there. let's take a look at what we have got right now. we are discussing issues we are

not discussing personalities or whether to destroy the press. we are discussing leadership under the leadership of bidens and under the leadership of the former -- i don't even want to call him a president but we all know who i am talking about. under his leadership we were eating ourselves alive as a nation. please republicans take a look at that where we are talking about issues. host: when it comes to that what stands out for joe biden in your mind? caller: educated doctors and educated infrastructure. these are solid -- good and american people. and let me say that republicans are the first to have your hand

out when there is a tornado or hurricane. host: we will leave it there. this is gloria in san antonio. hello. caller: good morning i am calling because neither candidate is annie good in my opinion. biden has really messed up -- any good in my opinion. biden has really messed of the country. host: laurie you have to keep going and stop listening to the television please. caller: and trump i believe he was going to be a martial law. he had no business being in government and did not know how to run the country. this is not -- we need more blind in there. -- blood in their. re. host: and who is that? caller: i don't know we just need somebody else. host: ok that was gloria and

even though she could not list a specific person she listed some ideals. call in for the best candidate. and colors if you do not mind turning down your television as you wait to get on the air. let's hear from kimberly in new mexico in support of trump. hello. caller: good morning thank you for letting me speak. i would support president trump over president biden. number one people must not be shopping anymore to realize how inflation is outrageous now because of president biden. and the media is starting their gas lighting campaign as far as helping president biden and how everybody is behind him and all that other stuff. and they are continuing their negative coverage of president trump. and trump did a lot for this country. the southern border being the

prime example. we had a lot less traffic coming through the southern border and not only that he was tougher on china and he even called them out on the virus. and biden just will not do things like that. we need a stronger person other than biden in our presidency to run this country. so yes, i am a strong supporter of president trump. he did do things with one hand tied behind his back because he was under constant investigation. i think he would be a superb president to run our nation again. host: one thing with the president schedule later on is that he travels to philadelphia to discuss his campaign. look on the c-span networks one of the topics coming out of that is the reveal of the republican budget president biden has asked for provided the release of his

budget. look for that to play out in the week of congress. a support of president biden in 2024 in maryland. this is robert. hello. caller: hey, how are you doing this morning? i have a few things to say. there will not be a republican in that white house in the next 12 years. they is no good. they are crazy people. thank you. host: before you go robert you said you support president biden for another term in office why is that? caller: why is that? because democrats are trying to out the lives of people. the republicans is going crazy. i've been watching tv ever since 1960 when nixon and kennedy had

that debate on live tv for the first time. and i mean to tell you i don't know what's wrong with these republicans now days. host: ok justin in cleveland, ohio on the others. hello. caller: good morning on a republican we are just normal people i'm not sure what that gentleman is referring to. i'm on the other line because we have a political class of people who all need to go away from joe biden, donald trump, tuck schumer, mitch mcconnell, i am glad nancy pelosi stepped down from leadership. the country needs a reset across the board. these people keep rotating seats back and forth we are $30 trillion in debt. none of them do anything right. we need a big other in 2024. host: who is the other in your mind? caller: well, i don't know.

i want to see real debates with real intellectual honesty instead of name-calling nonsense and the fake stuff. you showed joe biden doing a speech about voting rights nobody's voting rights are under attack it is nonsense. host: what are the qualities that make a good other person if you do not have a specific in mind? caller: they have to be honest and lay out their plan, and execute it. that way nobody can tear it down. you can debate it if you want, but we have got to stop having a bunch of people from washington dc creating problems or this -- for this country. that town is our biggest problem. host: that is one of the out-of-towners who commented on the state of the president. and chris sununu is -- has a story in the wall street journal this morning with the headline

that he is banking on voters being tired of trump. he started to raise money for a possible presidential campaign. he's not trying to win over the republican party's most ardent and ideologically driven voters or those focused on battles over racial diversity or gender identity. instead he is focused on those who disliked the gop's turn under former president donald trump and want a more calm tone under politics. on nbc's program meet the press was asked about a potential race and his thoughts on president trump running again here are his comments. >> the chair rummaged in says she wants to have candidate sign a pledge and support the republican nominee no matter who it is if you want to participate in an are in c sanction. are you comfortable --rnc

sanction. are you comfortable signing that? >> yes i am a long-term republican nominee supporter. when you look at what is coming out of the white house it is extreme agenda that is not having the best of the country and mine. d. former president donald trump is in the race but he will not be the nominee it will not happen. i think there is opportunity to bring forward what not what we were or yesterday story or what happened in november 22 but what we bring to the table and get done tomorrow. that's what america is looking for. i'm confident of who comes out of the republican nomination process will the able to deliver in 2024 and i will back them. >> new hampshire has the tendency to go for the outsider candidate. it's been remarkable to me that

donald trump looks like he is trying to be the outsider. he ran the party he was the institutional head of the party but he is running as an outsider. i know you want to be the outsider but in many ways he has lumped everybody against him do you think he is carving an outsider lane for himself? >> i think the former president has his own lane and does not need to carve anything. he is a known commodity to every american in the country. there are very few that are on the fence whether they are with him or not whatever it may be. he has his own lane and then you had the vast majority of the party which is looking for an alternative. host: alameda california this is jeff hello. jeff in california, hello? caller: hello there. are you calling me from alameda, is that what you said?

host: you are on go-ahead. caller: i totally support president biden that is because he won. and i support him, nationally how he has brought us back together into the world without partners on the planet. i support him encouraged that we have some safety net for those who have not -- who are not as privileged as i am. and i support him and the democrats in the senate for being knowledgeable, fact seeking, and trying to repair

the damage that has been done by the past administration under president trump. i'm also in stark contrast to the republican party and my reaction to the january 6 attack on our capital. i -- host: we got it jeff. and this is a supporter of former president trump. hello, james. caller: yes i would like to support trump if he was a candidate but at this point i would not say he would make it to the republican primary because we all know who's going to be in it. and i think that his election for the country will have

repercussions probably for decades. the things or among the things for biden -- what he is doing he tries on the right division. and six calls ago mentioned that she talked about biden and we are not talking about insulting people we are talking about issues. well the reason we are talking about issues now is because so many of them are concerned americans. we don't like the open border we hear things like -- the bill only included 9% [indiscernible] 9% was marked for covid.

host: if i may back to president trump for a second is your support wholehearted or halfhearted where are you on that right now? caller: you have to go with the candidate you honestly think is best for the country and i think that trump, he has a lot of baggage. he is now a politician and he does not speak like people like al gore who sounded like an automaton. because i think when you are a politician you learn how to speak and filibuster without saying a lot. i've noticed that even on c-span a lot of times when you have guests on that when people have the opportunity to call in what the guests will do, sometimes it is just try to kill time by filibustering. they won't really address the

issue. but back to the choice between the two, not only do we have the border problems, but we have this whole thing. i remember when joe biden told the black group if you vote for me you are not black. i think he is going to try to create an issue in the media that will accompany him in doing this i think he will try his best to make this election in 24 a race war. host: let's hear from paul in kentucky. on the line for others. we've divided the lines as far as your support. the others line captures everyone else. paul in kentucky, hello. caller: hello. if trump was the one i would vote for trump because biden is the worst president this country has ever had.

not only the worst, but he is the most people we have had. host: you specifically called in on the others line so who is the other? caller: did santos -- desantis i hope that he runs. but biden by far is an evil, vile man. host: why do santas specifically? caller: why are people going from blue states to red states for? why? i wish you would have a special on that on tv. because desantis [indiscernible] you've got freedom and look at the schools in the blue state. they are horrible everything in the blue state is horrible. i know how blue states are they are terrible. biden is very dangerous --

[indiscernible] he wrote a book on the most dangerous president ever. have him on their if you get trump have him on their. host: ok aubrey in new orleans supporter of president biden you are up next. caller: i am a biden supporter because he believes an institution, he believes in the right of citizens free union to vote, one of the things that is dangerous with this president. president trump and the republicans and the suppression of the anniversary of the crossing the bridge. they fought for that. and when you look at the voting suppression throughout the united states that is one of the things that this president has done to damage this country and union.

when he denied the freeness of the vote of the people of choice. and we have a choice now we should have at liberty to use that choice rather it be conservative or liberal. host: do you think president biden has done good on voting rights in his administration? caller: i think from his experience he will stand up for what is right. he will fight for the values of this country and the sovereignty of the country. these are people that have serious [indiscernible] they are appeasing and massaging whistle talk that is in this country. host: that was a half-hour of calls looking at the issues of 2024. your choice as it currently stands of who you would like to see in the white house from the

election. if you're a supporter of pres. biden (202) 748-8000 former pres. trump (202) 748-8001 another candidate (202) 748-8002 some of you have mentioned the ideals of what another candidate would look like. whoever it is if it's not the current or former president and you have someone else in mind it is the number on your screen. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. last week, it was in bc that highlighted on the steps of the capital tilting there was somewhat -- capitol building that there was a debate between republican donald and democrat edmonds. the debate was over in the president or future election.

here is a clip from that. >> to the gentleman from new york it is cool in my state for two people to be president i don't know about new york. >> who do you think could be president? do santas? -- desantis. he is white supremacists he is anti-gay, he has no rights there is no way he could be president. >> all that stuff it was coming up last year but democrats i called and said what is happening. they said it's not like that. i've had conversations it is not true. >> why can't those who have been incarcerated or released for their time why cannot -- can't they be re-enfranchised and allowed to vote. [indiscernible] >> i voted for the bill i was there when they drafted it.

>> who is the second in line? >> that is trump and ron. >> he did not claim florida? >> he's been claiming florida the last two years now. that is what he said to kathy he told kathy hochul i've got to go. stop. by who? >> if she wanted to jump in she would kill both of them and secondly biden would kill both of them. biden passed three bipartisan legislations. >> that is like saying that another player is better than patrick mahomes. come on somebody. >> after insurrection during the global pandemic open back up schools. killing the game. >> are you talking about the infrastructure bill is that what we are talking about? >> vote for desantis. >> in what world? >> tips act, -- ships act.

>> --chips act. >> stop. stop. >> he is a black man. host: nbc capturing that on the steps of the capital. that was jamaal bowman on the debate. you can find more on the website. when it comes to your support for a candidate of 2024 let's hear from larry in nebraska. supporter of president trump hello. caller: hello good morning. i am supporting donald trump. i have a question for one of your democratic voters that called in and talked about january 6. i was wondering -- they were upset when the last four years

the media and at the fbi tried to take down a president for four years. a duly elected president for four years. host: let's go back to that president why do you specifically support for another term? caller: they because i voted for him a first time. i want somebody to fight the corruption in washington dc. we have a very corrupt justice department. we have a very corrupt media. how many stories of they got wrong? lately the one about the china lab they -- one thing about the media. host: no this is about president trump you listed a couple specifics is there an reason why he would give him another term? caller: yes, i think he would

like to establish a lot better been in other candidate. you've got to realize what happened to donald trump should never happen to another american president ever again. no one should ever be treated like that. and we've got to start stopping this preaching hate all the time. a racist is not somebody that -- a racist is somebody that wants to kill you. a racist is not somebody that you disagree with. host: let's go to gym in winter park, florida, on the others line. hello. caller: good morning. i voted for trump in 2016 and i originally feel that you end up voting for somebody but i actually ended up voting against somebody. i voted against people rather than for people. my opinion is that there are a

couple of people out there that will -- i would like to run for president on both sides of the fence. i look for common sense and people that have common sense. joe manchin that man does not get pushed by anybody one way or the other. he has common sense and he works to try to get things done and get things working better. policy gabbert from hawaii another person who she just got run out because she was trying to be a person that works for everybody. on the other side adam kinzinger when you listen to that man, he makes sense. he is a common sense person. he tells you what he believes whether you like it or not. whether you are a republican or democrat. he does what he says. and even liz cheney the same thing.

she got fired -- she got blown out because of all the trump idiot that backed the trump push. in my opinion, we have quality people that are run off by the radicals on both sides of the fence. you know, you have joe manchin gets attacked by democrats and pushed and pushed and pushed to try to stay in the coalition. host: do you think out of those four candidates you mentioned that they have any ability to gain the attention of their respective parties when it comes to a potential race if they were to run for president? caller: i would hope that by this time after what we have gone through in the past eight years or what we will go through in eight years with four years of trump and four years of biden. that people will start to think rather than be on one side of the fence. that's what we have

right now people on both sides of the fence. look at the two congressmen standing on the steps. they looked stupid and ridiculous that was a joke rather than a real debate. host: even though they supported their candidates. they supported their candidate and oppose the other candidate you did not gain anything from that? caller: no because it is all talking points. what you heard from the senator of new york and the senator -- the congressman i mean. is it szekely what everybody spews day after day out of washington -- everybody spews day after day out of washington. it is ridiculous. these guys all they do is play games to try to win their 50% of the vote plus some. host: that is jim in florida

giving us his thoughts on the other's line in she can -- in michigan sue a supporter of joe biden in 2024 hello. . caller: hello. i am definitely in support of joe biden. in the process of those trying to overthrow the government many cops killed themselves after that or they got hurt. they did it because of the horror and insurrection that happened at the capital. trump said in the white house for over three hours and he did absolutely nothing to stop the insurrection after the cops were being beaten, tortured, and killed. host: let me turn your attention to the candidate you said he would support in 2024 which is joe biden why is that? caller: he has passed so many things that trump did not try to pass.

i forgot the name of it, but he has passed so many different things and he cares so much about all people not just the rate she cares about poor, middle-class, and rich. he cares about everyone the handicap people. trump was making fun of handicap people at his rallies. and trump also -- host: as far as joe biden is concerned you say he cares for people what do you mean by that? caller: he's trying to help people. as far as inflation goes it is not president biden's fault. it has a lot to do with what was going on with covid. trump did nothing to stop covid. he actually tried to make covid even worse. host: i think that could be a stretch but let's go to jim in florida on our line for those who support president trump go ahead. caller: good morning this lady just made one of my points.

if you cannot recognize that the last caller was not totally brainwashed by the press and the swamp establishment i have no hope for you. i am supporting donald trump because things are so totally out of whack. we need somebody to get in there and kick you know what. and he is the only one that has the managerial ability. hands on action to get things done and straighten this country out. host: such as what? caller: democrats in power. host: such as what? give me a specific. caller: donald trump with border patrol. i thought i told you to stop the illegal immigration. donald trump to the drug enforcement people. i thought i told you to

intersect fees drugs coming in better and prosecute these drug dealers. that is what donald trump will do. joe biden is not running the country susan rice is running this country. are you kidding me. host: let's go to robert in oregon. supporter of another line. hello tell us who you are supporting. caller: good morning thank you for responding to the call. i am in favor of governor desantis. he has the boldness that some ascribed to donald trump with the demeanor that contorts with the audience. it is not just merely his homecoming crowd. i think the proof is in the

pudding as to what is being done in florida. and i see that is why i am in favor of it. i think he would be a great candidate for president. if he is selected as the republican nominee. host: that is robert in oregon giving us his thoughts on ron desantis. you can do that as well if you call our line for others which is another candidate (202) 748-8002 . if you have another candidate in mind that stands out as presidential material. let's hear from another and in california. caller: yeah desantis -- we need a new face in washington dc we do not need trump or biden either. because who can you trust?

host: why do you trust ron desantis? caller: well he is like i said he is a new face and he has good ideas. because right now trump and biden are disagreeing on a lot of things. host: ok. caller: you have a border it is all screwed up and trump see, the trump people they do not care what happened january 6 and they do not care about people dying because of trump. they asked trump this is he going to pay his taxes this year? host: that is robert in california a supporter of ron desantis. and this is axios talking about a whole lead up to 2024. the poll found when it came to president trump a 30 point lead 55-25 against ron desantis that

is up from a 26 point lead over to ron desantis in january survey. the poll says the former president trump wins a whopping 72% support. and the emerson poll also found that former president donald trump was leading biden 46%-42 percent desantis trailed biden 44%-40%. and looking at the polls you can read them and digest them at axios. carol on facebook saying when it comes to supporters it is president trump. according to her we would not be in this mess now. also saying ron desantis should be vice president and president for two terms. and amy saying biden all the way why would anyone vote for a -- someone who lies and steals from their own supporters? and marge stack saying president trump will only -- the only

candidate that will fight for america's people and going back to the cpac speech. saying he will obliterate the deep state. and james hopkins saying this closely aligns for my values and vote for the candidate leading on that ticket. it goes on from there. you can post your thoughts on facebook/c-span and you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. in north carolina supporter of former president donald trump this is kelly. hello. caller: hello i am wondering why we call him former president trump do we call obama former president obama? host: we do. it is kind of a style. caller: ok. all right. i did want to say president trump absolutely because when china comes after us and they

are going to don't you want president trump and they are? re? just think about it if biden was in there and we are giving all of our weapons the way to ukraine at the moment. we will not be ready for it. we will not be ready for china. as far as january 6 goes everybody, if you want to know the truth watch tucker tonight because he will have the truth on. another thing about president trump he will -- he did so much if you go and look at everything he did for this country. if you think back you have money in your wallet. you don't anymore. we just paid $11 for lipton tea bags of 48 count. is that ridiculous or what? and i know you people out there are hoarding your eggs because good gracias how much they cost. and he's going to bring down the inflation just like he did before.

and he's going to make us have a wonderful economy just like he did before. host: that is kelly in north carolina. the washington times goes back to the cpac poll that former president trump one one handedly. and they ask about vice president candidates from him. the shortlist for a vp candidate include south dakota chris noem and marjorie taylor greene and sarah palin and kari lake who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 22 d2 dachshund 2022. -- in 2022. this is from carolyn a supporter of joe biden president biden in ohio. hello. caller: hello.

yes, i am a supporter of biden. i have a different opinion than the florida gentlemen. i agree with some of the things he said, but i -- really would love for you to have -- i don't even know what their names were. i think one from new york was bowman and the other was from -- host: democrat and republican respectively. caller: that is the first time i ever saw that. i will be viewing that again. that is the way it used to be. that is called debate. that was not fake or making fun of anybody. i was so impressed by that. i would hope that c-span will have them on because they were just talking like they are friends but they were giving their point of view. and i thought it was refreshing

and i enjoyed it. and bowman gave all my reasons for why i am voting for -- host: tell us the reasons in your own words. why would you give joe biden a second term? caller: specifically because of the infrastructure i'm in ohio on the border of west virginia. look at what will go on in columbus, ohio with intel. i could go on and on about the things he has gotten done. i am a senior citizen as well but he is all -- a lot older, but as long as he can do everything like he is doing in -- i look up to him. i wish i could be like him. he gets so much done. yes, he did have help with nancy pelosi and etc. but they are still there so hopefully they

will help him get things done still. host: ok let's go to josh in north carolina on our line for others. hello. caller: hello. am i on? host: yep you are on go ahead. caller: i support ramaswamy. it is hard to pronounce his name. the reason i support him is because he has an idea about getting away from identity politics. i am republican and if -- if it came down between biden and trump, i would vote for trump 100%. i hope it does not come that way and like ron desantis comes in but for now i want for it to be the nominee. because he has great views about bringing this country back together.

he wants to get rid of the fbi and the department of education. and the department of education needs to go back to the states. what education has -- what the -- but the current administration has done for education now is horrifying. treating parents like they are domestic terrorists this woke agenda and all of this crab that we've got. it's insane. . host: that is josh in north carolina and revoke swami -- that candidate spoke on his thoughts. only one person entering the race in recent days marianne williamson as far as president biden he is still not officially

declaring another run for office. but that is the field as it currently stands. and former maryland republican governor larry hogan saying he will not take a run for 2024. i've got a few more minutes left in our program this is text from this morning with judy from ohio saying the dream team for her is katie porter from california were president and adam kinzinger for vice president. or vice versa. both are pro-constitution and are not afraid to dig in and find the truth and call people out. this is deborah from florida saying condoleezza rice would be a wholesome choice for president and shepherd -- would be a good choice for vice president. and marianne williamson is by choice or another individual. bill in new york. and we have jt in kentucky saying he supports gavin newsom democratic governor of california. and pete to as well.

no develop about whoever the democratic president is i will be voting democrat. that is the text on this if you want to add your words to the mix you can text us at (202) 748-8003. front in new york this is jim on our line for those who support president trump. go ahead. caller: yes you have your finger on the button like you do every time i call. this place is a mess and trump is the only one who can fix it. i said time and time again the single family houses are packed like sardines. the places a freaking mess. only he can fix it. host: how so? how will he fix it in your mind? caller: you hear him. look at what biden did. as soon as biden got in one of the streets over here it was not

bad enough now you cannot even see when you are trying to get out on the street here. the schools marquees are in spanish. this is america not the south of the border.. host: sharon in maryland. supporter of president biden go ahead. caller: hello? host: you are on go ahead. caller: oh i am on now all right. ok. i go for biden. trump is too far out with all of his things that he wants to do. he wants to fill the rio grande river with alligators. he wants to use atomic bombs on the next or last hurricane. host: ok to president biden why

give him another term specifically? caller: he has done more in four years so far that any have been done. he's got three or four good things coming. they just want to fight him on the way. we need to get biden back in their. host: ok let's go to independent louisiana our line for others. we hear next up from david. hello. caller: good morning. i was a big trump supporter. and for years for once in my life i can see a real leader. and i did see one in trump. no matter what he was in there and he showed what a real leader could be. but to me, i need somebody else to lead because he is too liberal. i seen a movie called seven years in tibet and you don't think they've got some racist

people coming. wait until they step all over your -- host: you're saying former president trump is too liberal now? caller: for me. for my choice. when china comes over you will see real racism. all your woke agenda him and all your little things it's going to be republicans you ain't going to be able to have your second amendment or first amendment. host: who is a candidate you have in mind that represents the views you hold? caller: i have no idea, sir. trump would be the only one but it is too liberal. host: robert in ohio again we have given three choices so to speak and it comes to the way to register your opinion in this hour. including a line for others this is robert in fairborn morning. caller: good morning i am a conservative republican but i see trump as a cancer to our

party. i threw my hat in for desantis. and i am not a republican i have six years of college educated in florida and i used to be married to a african-american woman so i am hardly racist either that is just a stereotype. i used to be democrat i voted for clinton but i became a born-again christian and i bemeore conservative. host: what about -- what is it about desantis specifically? caller: i'm sorry i like his anti-gay stae in disney world. i like the education system in florida. and i think he would be a good leader. he embodies a good leadership. host: alright that is the last call we will take on this topic. thank you to all of you who participated in this hour. coming up several guest joining us including one

>> this week on c-span network the house and senate are in session. the senate will work on judicial nominations and the house on protecting speech. jerome powe will testify at two hearings. before the house finance committee and the heads of the u.n. intelligee agency will testify on threatsacg the u.s. and on thursday before the house intelligence committee also thursday u.s. senators from ohio and pennsylvania federal and local epa agencies testify before the senate environment and public work's committee on how to protect the public and

the environment after the train derailment this week on the c-spwork or on c-span now our free mobile video out also head over to c-span.org live or on-demand anytime c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> there are of a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> if you're enjoying book tv sign-up for our newsletter using

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>> listening to programs on c-span 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 throughout the day and weekdays at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. eastern kutch washington today for a fast-paced report stories of the day i into c-span anytime . c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: here to talk about the week ahead is emily wilkins thanks for coming. guest: thanks for having me. host: we will see president biden calling the republicans to release their version of the budget what is the status on that. guest: don't expect any

republican budgets this week. they want to see what the administration is suggesting as far as cuts and spending. you did see yarborough on -- they are working on a proposal so look for that around mid april. it to see where that might be critical about the white house and where that might be on board with it biden has promised his budget will cut money from the deficit over the next 10 years. part of that will be with tax increases. the increased tax on the wealthy, corporations and it will be interesting to see if those proposals are met with any warmer reception this time but i think republicans are going to be looking at what the white house is ok with cutting. host: even though they have not released pacific what approaches

will we see? guest: we don't have a lot of clarity from republicans at this point about exactly what they want we know they're looking at spending cuts. they talked about bringing it back to 2022 levels we did see republicans release priorities they want to see eliminated like lgbtq private centers. things that are in the last budget that they see as potential cuts. these are only just a couple million dollars or they're going to need to find much more and of course they've taken a lot of entitlement programs of the table. they vowed not to cut social security, medicare both sides seem to be pretty firm on that. it will be interesting to see exactly if republicans find up coming up with a specific list of things they want to cut or

putting spending caps across the board. host: several weeks now with republicans gaining control of the house. what would you say is the scene we see our edging going forward? guest: republicans have taken a lot but they are coming forward with so much. mccarthy has seen a number have congressional hearings they are going to be seeing different things on the biden family. we have a hearing on the biden family and u.s. treasury this week. that's been something we have seen them look into talking about have there was coordination and the government and twitter officials when they decided to hold back on letting the new york post article about hunter biden's laptop out. you'll hear them say there was no coordination with the

government, we made a mistake. but you are now looking this week with the twitter files from some of those internal documents that were pet up by a select group of reporters. there are concerns about the narrative they tell and how accurate that is but it kind of continues republicans trying to see because the government trying to block it all free speech, particularly free speech from conservatives. we will see that hearing this week. host: how are guest with us until 8:30 if you want to ask her a question (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 the republicans and independents (202) 748-8002. you can text a set (202) 748-8003. guest: were going to have a journalist who's been releasing some of the twitter files have got another journalist as well post on the same and this can be

very interesting the committee that was specifically formed this year the house weaponize asian committee to look into whether the government has been weaponized of course you have democrats saying some of the narratives put out our faults but it is one of the blockbuster committees and republicans expect to have a lot of attention and is expected to undermine p5 administration especially if he runs again in 2024. if republicans raise enough doubt this could potentially have an impact on bidens ability to be president host: again. go back to the previous hearing you talked about the family gets extended into and by congress. guest: a lot of this is looking into hunter biden. trying to take into that point

and i think to a certain extent it's about has administration concerns that the homeland secretary is not taking care of the border or trying to limit free speech. we will see the first select committee on covid-19 halter first hearing next week. i'll a lot of conservatives pushing this theory that it leaked from a lap. the energy department said we think there is evidence on the table but we think it's a credible explanation federal agencies are divided on this there's no set agreement as to where covid-19 started but it will p.m. interesting to see how they make their arguments, what information they're looking for, are they were interested in

holding the biden administration's feet to the fire and how they approach profit -- covid. host: how to republicans view kevin mccarthy now? guest: i think republicans realize they don't have another option. he was able to keep everyone together and so far things have run relatively smooth. so far no one's really great being. mccarthy as taking this strategy have bringing as many people to the table as he can. mccarthy has given each of them a collective leadership council and that's something where he brought back this counsel he major he's got these different groups there. things like the debt limit its

several months don't the road that they're starting conversations now trying to get a sense of the numbers. we talk a lot about the six and the carrots mccarthy likes the carrots and it will be interesting to see if he can get other things done. host: you described these five groups to keep the peace talk about that. guest: some people find it funny. he was like a nonevent did you see that movies? but i think is just kind of anecdote that it acknowledges that car occur at the same point they actually have a bigger mission which is to make sure republicans keep the majority to make sure you're able to win the senate the presidency so even though there might be tensions

they all share a bigger goal of promoting themselves and make sure they come out on top after 2024. host: this is emily wilkins from bloomberg governments. this call comes from ronald in georgia. come ahead. caller: good morning, miss wilkins and thank you c-span. i was curious as far as congressional action what is the status of any kind of public hearings as far as that the pipeline the obstruction that was actually done by u.s. government forces? there's a long track record of investigatory journalism. going all the way back to vietnam and he has so much credibility. his congress going to get in

oversight on that issue? guest: at this point i'm not aware of any hearings with nord stream to but that doesn't mean there aren't any being discussed. truly energy is a big issue with house republicans right now they are putting together a large package of energy bills. we saw movement on being able to trouble on public land. and any national security implications that might be from our reliance on other nations or us blank oil and gas from other nations. host: republican line, scott, hello? caller: hello, thank you for c-span. it's important to our country. alan block is trying to dismantle newspapers in toledo

and pittsburgh. why does c-span approve of keeping him on your board? host: i will stop you there to say the editorial processes are different than the corporate government processes. you mentioned the programming not only on the network but this program so we will go to sarah. sarah is in new hampshire, independent line. caller: i'm curious as to why republicans are so concerned about hunter biden who is not a government official when donald trump's daughter and son-in-law panhandle to that of the white house to the tune of $1 billion and we never hear anything about that and what isn't donald trump present for are trying to throw -- overthrow our country? you never hear any my mitchell

and why is jim jordan wasting american taxpayers time and money with these witchhunts against every entity, the fbi, the cia, all this bull crap. we, the american people deserve better than this. i reason i'm going to have to choose between joe biden and donald trump again. host: sir, makes. guest: the house oversight committee as well as ranking members are interested in legislation that might address a president's family members. this isn't just about trump or biden want to make sure there isn't anything going on even with the president's grown children were a president and

fault -- and dump involved in something that will threaten national security. it's too early in the game to tell. he does acknowledge that there were potentially concerns with the trump family and how they were able to print thanks but they are not in power right now hence why they're looking into the bidens. host: we saw a couple last week in maryland talk about the agenda. not only for the president but for the caucus itself. guest: the good thing about being in the minority democrats feel very united right now. they have one goal which is take back the house. they feel pretty comfortable in their talking points the democrats talk have much of an agenda they can enact in the

next two years so they will focus on going back to some of the bills we saw previously on semiconductor manufacturing, climate, tax, health care they are trying to get the message that that bridge happening in your community, that's happening because of us. i was chatting with sara jacobs from california and she is like we just need our names on that too so they know it's us and give us credit. that's not an easy thing to do. a have 52% of americans that feel like pride hasn't done much democrats really need to be able to change that perspective if they have any hope of keeping the senate or winning back the house in 2024. host: one of the stories we saw

at the end of last week was concerning the government of district of columbia itself the d.c. crime bill tell us about the bill itself and they approach the democrats want to see. guest: democrats, they passed a number of laws that were basically talking about crime and punishment making things a little less restrictive. the mayor had some concerns about the bill, do you see counsel was so hyper to get it passed. republicans are trying to overturn it. this raises a lot of concern about growing crime in the u.s.. as democrats voted against it makes a decent should be able to do what it wants but you did have 31 house democrats particularly those formerly challenging districts to run in swing districts vote to overturn this law to send a message about what they think about crime and

a to crack down on criminals. they did that under the idea that the white house would stop everything, veto it, and it would happen but biden came out and said he would not veto this bill if it got to his desk so now all eyes on the senate it seems like they have enough votes to be able to get it through i think it really sends a strong signal about where the parties are right now in terms of being soft on crime and democrats are feeling the heat to wind up fighting for fells like this that kind of conflict a little bit with their perception of how d.c. should be governed. host: house minority leader was asked about it i want to show you put. [video clip] >> we have to see what happens in the united states at next week depends on what the senate does the president all have to respond one way or the other i

haven't had the opportunity to talk to the white house yet about the president's view so i'm not going to characterize his position one way or the other. >> he's made it clear it's not, unless he changes his tune again. >> there are public and private conversations. what i do know is delegates houses they look forward to talking to president biden they may agree to disagree. at the end of the day, that's fine. host: sounds very diplomatic. >> 31 democrats who supported the bill there are many who are very upset to hear that biden does plan to go ahead and a belt house without a veto obviously this does not make democrats look unified there are a lot of concerns they could potentially

look bad. such a support soft on crime asterisk so i think they're trying to get the most diplomatic answer and try to avoid alluding to the fact that there are so many folks in has caucus have are very frustrated by this move. host: this is william in ohio, democrat line. go ahead. caller: i'd like to ask one thing, george santos, what's taking so long to address this issue when you had ms. cheney they took care of that right away. i like to understand the hypocrisy that the republicans are doing right now get she address that? thank you, that's all i have to say. guest: the house ethics committee has opened an investigation for a number of different items including

potential violations of campaign law. he is under other investigations. until he's formally charged santos will remain in the caucus. you saw him remove himself from has committees that takes away any potential power he may have had. there is legislation that would prevent him from benefiting from his spot. if he does wind up getting charged with criminal charges that's going to all the house republicans to wash their hands of him as if we have another group dealing with him. it will be interesting to see what the committee decides on almost certainly there are republicans who are frustrated with santos, frustrated with

reputation he has given their party. the investigation is something worth following. host: in the paper today the dress she wore at the met gala that's one of the things that are happening a lot going on on capitol hill. let's hear from aaron in alabama. caller: i was connecting some dots and a lot of it brought me to 2012, 2013, 2014. how that correlated with the election of the d.c. attorney general and ukraine was starting civil war. and also, then zelenskyy was at hector and his media production

company became the ukrainian administration. the attorney general, all of his background was media broadcasting. host: thank you for calling. hadley, republican line. caller: good morning i like to say that i like donald trump. so i have to say. host: ok. back to the work of congress you talked about ukraine when it comes to being over the budget i guess republicans will say don't support it but taller figure wise it is starting to change. guest: it's a huge question because there are a handful of republicans who don't feel like we should be giving them money. feeling hop americans in the

u.s. certainly that has a minority of house republicans and it's not the ones in charge when you look at the committee chairs they are consistent with saying they need to continue to fund ukraine the thing is how to forget and to spending and do receive any sort of different measures? mccarthy said he doesn't want to write happily check he wants to have a sense of for the funding is going and how it's being used. when it comes time for the white house to come to congress and state the last round of funding has run out and were going to need this much more. there's also a debate as to what the u.s. needs to be doing whether to send military and missiles are fighter jets i think there's a question or debate going on right now does the u.s. continue to support has

his or do you go all in with the hope of ending this war sooner? host: word is defense spending come in? guest: we are expecting the white house to increase their defense budget. we have seen republicans be divided on this. it's incredibly important for our country to be struck you have other republicans that think that's an area that can't be cut and you have some of the same on the democratic side. saying we can do with less defense spending. do you wind up coming from domestic are also have the domestic included into those cuts? that's one of those things were going to have to -- congress is going to have to grapple with it will be one of the storylines to watch. host: doni in d.c., democrat

line. donnie in washington hello? caller: this is my first time calling. i was calling for joe biden, i don't understand what people want to vote for donald trump at a full the things he had did, didn't peach to two times he don't pay his taxes, had secret files that has resort i don't understand why they want to vote for him when he took office everything was smooth and clear, you know? obama 510, and it's not how you come into office its hiq leave the office and he left the office all jacked up. joe biden had to come through and straighten it up. host: we talked about how

democrats view themselves, how are they looking at joe biden? guest: if you asked a mike ross about joe biden they will talk about their support for him he was able to shepherd through a lot of the key priorities they hoped to run on. you haven't too many really throw their hat in the ring except for marianne williamson at this point. i haven't heard of any democrats who support her it will be interesting how they end up wanting -- throwing their hat into the ring. a lot say they don't want to run it yet and you see that reflected and a lot of pulse of democratic voters but at this point it's hard for democrats to say they don't want biden when there's really no one else they can point to is that i think they would make a better choice. host: susan in south carolina, hello.

caller: good morning. concerning the ukraine work, and how the money is being used i've been seeing the commercial about wanting people to send money to feed the jews and ukraine so i called the number and i asked them, i said we've already sent $100 billion there how come the jews are being helped? host: before we let you go, we talked about the hearings you highlighted but we haven't even talked about the senate. judicial hearings on the way but anything else to watch out for this week? guest: a lot of nominees, bite looked up by making sure he's got a 51 in the senate.

vice president, harris doesn't have to keep crossing pennsylvania avenue to break a tie. of course, you're going to see the senate take the vote on the d.c. crime bill you do have a couple democrats out this week that gives the democrats a bit of an advantage i think there's seven, don't quote me on that, seven senate democrats who are planning to vote in favor of overturning the d.c. law these are going to be the key things to watch. host: rewind fears of where they are, they are showing up in congress and what they're dealing with. guest: senator federman has difficulty, first of all he had the stroke. then he said he was admitting himself into a regional because of mental issues, depression, thinks he's been struggling with. senator and sent one of the

senate i believe it's shingles if i remember correctly recovering from that. and i will be honest i'm not sure when they are returning but i'm pretty sure they're both under a lot of pressure to do so. in a senate divided 51-49 you need all of those numbers there to move things through. host: emily wilkins. if you want to see her writing she's the congressional reporter, thanks, hope you come back. we will continue taking a look at trust. a piece don't let partnership for public service and max stier will be on. bipartisan policy center michael barnett joining us. both coming up on "washington journal". ♪

>> c-span is a free mobile featuring your unfiltered view of what's happening in washington keep up with live streams of floor proceedings white house events, campaigns and more. i'll at your fingertips stay current with the latest episodes of "washington journal" and find scheduling information. plus a variety of compelling podcasts. download it for free today c-span out your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> this 1979 on a partnership

with the cable industry c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of the response to russia's invasion of ukraine. as well as congress we also have international perspectives from the united nations and statements from foreign leaders all on the c-span network. c-span now free mobile app and c-span.org/ukraine our web resource page or you can watch

the latest videos live and follow tweets from journalists on the ground. >> "washington journal" continues. host: max stier as our guest from the partnership for public service. thanks for joining us. guest: thank you so much for having me. host: tell us more about the partnership. guest: ye partnership is basically an organization focused on trying to make the government work better we are concerned that in order for our country to solve problems it needs a government that's going to be able to take solutions. almost everybody deals with the government and there's almost a

focus on execution and that's what we're about so we focus on trying to make sure the government has the right talent, has the right resources to deliver results to the american people. host: what fosters the decision to look at the trust in government. guest: a public that trusts its government you have a functioning democracy our government is about solving problems for the american people. they're not going to be interested in seeing the investments necessary to make the government work well and they're not going to be able to look for the government to solve the problems. you need a government that is trustworthy and trusted and that is a core part of our democracy. we have been working on the trust issues for about 2.5 years ye partnership for public service has been up and running for 22 years and yesterday was

over 22nd anniversary. host: the new survey that came out, you can fill out the blank. you found 36% of americans have a favorable view of the federal government. then you go say positive experiences when act directing directly with some government services. guest: i think one of the fascinating insights is when you say federal government for most people they're thinking about the bickering politicians in washington, d.c. and in fact many of the polls asks the question to you trust the government in washington, d.c.? across our country, across the world experience is that most of the american public have with the civil servants has is pretty positive. we need to reintroduce our government through its workforce

to the american people and when you do that we see much higher positive views about our government and civil service so we need to tell the stories to rebuild the trust obviously we can have high expectations that we can also align what i think is in fact, the basic perspective of the american public that they are getting good services if were able to separate the bickering from the brother set of civil servants. to make sure they have the resources and capabilities. host: if a veteran reaches out to v.a. he can like that process. guest: absolutely candidates fascinating the irs has a more positive public perception that

the federal government. it tarnished because of the bickering, can't say it any better than that. host: the trust in public government you can talk about that and ask questions at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans and (202) 748-8002 for independents. if you want to text and give your perspective (202) 748-8003. guest: the core thing everything understands is workers are there because of the mission that is what drives them into public service. they could be making more money in other occupations. the reality is many, again, federal employees are not appreciated in a way they should be.

even within their on culture in the agencies. you have a kinds of infrastructure to find problems whether ig or oversight or the media not enough attention paid to the things that are happening. much better off getting better results through positive reinforcement to certainly need to identify promising practices i would say federal employees by and large are there because the mission. we've got to treat them better if we do are going to find up with better services as well. host: james comer was there talking about federal workers talking about working from home. criticisms about that i want to play a little bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> the federal workforce needs to get back to work. federal agencies are falling short on their missions they are

not carrying out their duties they are feeling the american people during the covid-19 pandemic most of the federal workforce stayed home. if the rest of america went back to work in person, many federal workers did not. the american people have suffered as a result. they have waited for months for tax refunds from the irs. they are waiting for social security administration to answer questions. the have been waiting for months to get adequate records from the national archives. however veterans could not get access to records because the archives staff was at home. this is unacceptable. it should be downright embarrassing to these agencies. the american people have struggled with high inflation, scarce goods, prolonged lockdowns and other hardships. the bite administration has

shoveled federal for workers with benefits all while working from home. host: what you think about that and the idea of trust the government? guest: bottle line federal employees did an amazing job going through the pandemic. it's worth noting that a lot of federal employees never had the option of working from home if you think about the works at tsa, anyone who was direct service didn't have that option and even folks in the intel community they couldn't work from home. they had to go to secure sites to do their work. federal employees that were not limited in that way many of them did work from home. you saw performance increase. i think, there are ways that the federal government can respond better in terms of providing

management for those that are teleworking. it would be a mistake to think that you can roll back the clock to pre-pandemic times. our workforce has different expectations right now. if you start limiting the federal government's ability to offer smart total fork opportunities you're going to wind up even more work outsourced to contractors who are going to get the right talent to do it and the right benefits so no doubt it's right and appropriate to have accountability to make sure that gifford is happening. agencies should be able to communicate whether someone is in a building or at home but by and large really the federal government did shine throughout the pandemic in many ways. they should be appreciated for that. host: president and ceo

partnership for public service, first call is erica go ahead. caller: what i would like to say is i'm a democrat. money, billions of dollars being sent to ukraine, people are going to steal that money. it's corrupt. ukraine is the most corrupt. i don't trust the democrats with social security and medicaid because i found a people are getting cut off and giving as a site to ukraine and the people coming over here. and there's people on it for 20 years. democrats, you're spending this money to your relatives and your ancestors overseas to ukraine why are you so interested in ukraine? democrats, you're going to lose

take care of america. host: thank you. guest: is important to recognize that so many of the services mentioned whether social security or medicare, they have incredible positive perspective from the public. 70, 80% favorable rating from the american public. interestingly you see people saying take your hands off my social security and medicare. when i say we whether it's civics or the federal government itself and helping the american public understand where the services are coming, where the taxpayer dollars are going and how they are helping them in many ways. again, this is a situation where you should have expectations of the american government and we should have a real appreciation for what americans are getting. host: bill is next, good morning. caller: good morning to you.

what i'd like to know is we the people could get back in touch with government by having a website that shows everything? with the servings out and at the end of the survey you have the results button for each issue and be able to see what the rest of the country feels like about it. they don't represent the community anymore they got on a committee, and they don't want to do anything for constituents anymore. we the people need to get back involved in the government and be an vault to have voice. i don't know that we need a congress if we have people on

the computers. host: bill, thanks for the call. guest: i think that's an important observation we live in an age where it's easier to get feedback from the public. in fact one of the things were pressing for is making it easier for federal agencies to receive feedback from customers so they can better design for their product so it serves the public even better. it's a strange world. there was an act that requires federal agencies to go through intraday -- intricate processes that could take six months to a year. we need to get rid of for all like that so agencies are more able to hear the voices that are available and interested. you can wind up having a government that is more responsive to the public.

as far as congress goes, interesting question. technology does in a bulbar voices to be heard and we are looking at new ways to collect feedback our public institutions to be responsive. host: he mentioned constituent services. how successful are they you get a call and a response back? guest: it varies on that but one of the interesting pieces here you have 535 offices on the hill and they're very decentralized. i don't know there is as much practice identification as there could be i think there is plainly room for improvement. but there are some offices that are experimenting. constituent services is a core element of what caused -- congress does there is e

interesting discussion. districts didn't get as large as they are today i think there's interesting questions about our democracy. host: survey says 42% have a positive impact as is 22% of a week government listens to the public. guest: ntwo aspects there. the numbers are so low in terms of people think government is listening to them and this comes back to the customer experience issue we need to have a better set of numbers than that. we need a better relationship where the public actually feels like their voices being heard and not just the delivery of the services but also the design of the services. i think it's a particularly critical time with the commitment that had been made whether bipartisan

infrastructure or you have, you know, some beyond the normal substantial investments that are being made to help republicans all sorts of ways. they need to work in a way that are sensitive to the voices in the community that are actually going to be impacted here. this is a moment where i think our government had an opportunity to do better and it's going to require the investment of everybody to do that. host: let's hear from lauren in georgia. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i am a former employee of the irs and i'd like to make several comments. as an employee i worked in taxpayer advocate before i retired. and i worked to bring people to the irs. everybody works very hard from

the bottom to the top. they care about their jobs. we often praying for the things we have no control over. we do not assist texas. the congress does. the only thing the irs employees do is inform the department that congress has decided where their taxes should be increased, decreased, what taxes. so employees work hard, were just like anybody kills they pay taxes they are required to pay on time. and it affects their job if they do not. host: can i ask you a question? how do people react to you when they find out about your past irix experience? caller: negatively. until i explained to the that i

am a taxpayer advocate. i was a taxpayer advocate. they have no idea that this organization is there. if you have issues with the iris, that you cannot resolve please contact taxpayer advocate. they will help you resolve your issue. they are seen both sides of the issue at their job is to resolve taxpayer issues. most taxpayers are not over this organization. host: thank you for giving us empathetic. we appreciate it. guest: and thank you for your service. we were just having this conversation about a peaceful line that the irs is delivering that her service right now after the investment from the inflation reduction act. it's so important. there's so much she could have said that's important and it's true everywhere that civil

servants don't make the policy. it's our democratic process, members in congress, and the political leadership that do. silver servants are executed and they're doing it on behalf of the american public and they get plant for choices that were not theirs to make. there real fork is to make sure the government is operating effectively. you see a great case example there has been a disinvestment in the institution and therefore technology has degraded. the workforce has declined and the end result is americans, our service and i think right now an important change which is investing in the institution so it can deliver as lawrence at better customer service. and ultimately better outcomes for the public. people talk about running the government like a business you can't do that. it starts with the fact that you never have a budget because

congress, 1996 was the last time they passed all of their bills on time. no other business could operate in that way. it's hard for civil service to do so as well. iris is doing an experiment now. what can be delivered and the early returns are good. host: when you come to the various departments of the federal government is in charge of making sure they're still going on. guest: each individual agency is responsible for their own services by and large you have a center, it's quite small. it has very limited capacity in my view. so that it can't really, it doesn't have a resource that's really providing the support and learning across the hall network of different agencies so it becomes an agency by agency

operation and it's not as much collaboration as to what would be helpful for our government. have federal workers move across the different agencies but that's not happening very much at all. it was the original design of the top executives. it was only 8% that moved agencies once they got to the top level. host: so away from the rest of the workings? guest: today requires multi-agencies, multi levels of government and the best way to achieve that is not trying to restructure the government and for the different pieces together in different ways but get the people that have experience working in different places so that they understand capabilities of a different agency. they have the relationship and they can work more together and collaborate effectively. that will be one big push that i think will have a difference. host: from north carolina,

harry, good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to know when we are going to do something about donald trump and the republican party that are looking to destroy our country? how long is it going to take to do the job everybody knows was going on. we're going to lose everything. donald trump wants to take over the country we all know they have people packing them. they're on tv they get promotions it's hard to comprehend. guest: i think one of the important economies here --

dichotomies here at the same time if you have that partisan debate going on the workforce of the federal government is viewing the job whether it's department of agriculture, you name it. that stuff is generally below the radar screen but it's actually fundamental to everybody's life. i would love to see more stories about the people like lauren who worked in the text. advocate office. we have service to america metals where we honor that most innovative employees. in my view they're actually doing the incredible work of solving pik problems for the public so that's were i would like to see the attention focused. host: you did have a survey when

they were asked that question 40% of democrats also it's a good question and obviously is going to depend on little bit because everybody's individual head at my part of the reason we focus on democracy in that way in our view you really need three things for a successful democracy. you need to have accountability, you need to add rule of law or it defied everybody you need an effective government and be able to deliver goods and services. in order to have a successful government you need to have the public trust right now we see no

trust at the level we should or at the least that our economy is functioning corrective much as we want to see -- has to work across the diversity of the country for the demographic diversity or political diversity we are one country and to be able to separate the question of the reasonable policy differences from the core things that connect us, we believe it's vital to the future of our country. host: kirk, new jersey. guest: thank you for taking my call. it's corporate america. our congress is pretty much bought and sold. every congressman, every senator, representative, is reading the books and i'm wondering now does this book say right? can corporations by 10,000?

now you take bernie sanders he wrote a book he's a millionaire overnight. now who's buying all these books? is it corporate america? are or as our congress bought and sold? lobbyists, they pass something saying lobbyists could not give money to a senator and now is this the loophole to get around it? volodymyr zelenskyy host: you're not seeing a bunch of civil servants handwriting books that are getting bought by corporate actors again frankly it's the same oath of office that they're all swearing to. one of our views is that we should have a expectation of leadership in the public sector and it begins with that as a leader of government your personal primary is public good.

i think in our view we need to see more investments in leadership and making sure we have that understanding of it. host: the website is our public servant.org. we are speaking with the president and ceo. you can find a survey they are. thank you for your time. guest: thank you so much. host: about an hour from now we will look at the senate. and how policies work. but we srt with the question we started with thisorning when it comes to 2024 if your choice is between president biden, president trump, or another candidate. please call us. if you think pres. biden (202) 748-8000 , former pres. trump

(202) 748-8001 , another candidate (202) 748-8002. we will take those calls win washington journal continues. -- when washington journal continues. ♪ >> united states of america was originally built on two important factors. the first the declaration of independence was signed by 56 men in the middle of 1776. second, the constitution was signed by 39 men in september of 1787.

six of those mammoths butheir john hancock on both of the documents. these authors denise and joseph have written short background stories about 95 of the signers into books called signing their lives away the declaration of independence and assigning their rights away the constitution. >> these authors on boot notes plus. -- book notes plus it is available now on your c-span now apple or where get your podcast s. preorder your copy of the congressional directory worthy -- for the 118th congress. scanned the code at the right to preorder your copy today for early spring delivery.

it is $29.95 plus shipping and handling. and it supports our c-span offerings at c-span shop.org. >> be up-to-date in the latest in publishing with book tv's podcast about books. with current, nonfiction book releases. and bestsellers list and industry news and trends through insider news. you can find more on c-span now our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. announcer: washington journal continues. host: if you want to let us know your thoughts on a current 2020 board candidate whether it is president biden, former president trump, or others. you can call and or you can text us at another candidate (202) 748-8002 -- you can text us at

(202) 748-8003. marianne williamson did an interview about the 2020 for candidacy and here a portion of that. >> you said do you press you were the longest of long shots what makes you think you can do this? >> i believe the associated press also said they are a shoe in. >> i don't know if they use that word. >> you know what i mean. i am a long shot. but those entrenched it with the system who drugs into a ditch are not qualified to lead us out of a ditch. my qualification is not that i know how to perpetuate the system it's that i know how to disrupt it. >> how? >> you can cancel all college

loan debt. >> biden just tried that. >> he tried. something that if he canceled it immediately that that would block his opponents from waging the battle that they have. >> but it has to go through congress. >> there are many things the president can do without working through congress. i do not see myself as running against joe biden i see myself as challenging the system. >> you do have to be binding as well though. >> yes, i do. but i plan to went out with no negativity on a personal level i have no interest with taking shots on a personal level. he is a nice man. >> need endorsed bernie sanders and others. both of them have said that biden deserves reelection. >> that is their opinion.

>> are they wrong? >> know it is not about what i think is wrong. obviously i believe the american people should be offered a -- an agenda for genuine economic reform. it should be the voters that decide. that is what a democracy is. >> do you expect biden will debate you? host: that is a portion on abc if you want to go to their website and check out the thoughts of marianne williamson as she entered the race for presidency. she may be a candidate of choice for you. call the others' line if you have chosen another candidate (202) 748-8002 . or if you say it is president biden for another term it is pres. biden (202) 748-8000. or former pres. trump (202) 748-8001. let's go to carol supporters of president bynum good morning. caller: good morning i am over 60 i will put that in there.

i do not understand how anyone who started orion kim -- started a riot can end up being rebooted in. he is too radical as far as i am concerned. host: why give president biden another term? caller: he has not done a bad job. he brought normalcy back to the presidency. he made it a little bit more mainstream because donald trump is too far radical. you do not start riots you just do not. host: ok. let's hear from a supporter of former president truck. this is bill -- president trump. this is bill and alabama. caller: i try to avoid watching

anything that has a view in favor toward truck. -- trump. but i ask individuals to find the truth -- to our speech that trump did and write down all the different things he accomplished. you cannot come to another conclusion. host: specifically why would you give him another term? caller: what he did for the economy and what he did too close -- improve our position with europe. he forced nato nations to have a treaty long before boudin -- vladimir putin was there. and the press spun it around saying he was trying to pull out of nato. that is absolutely baloney.

but he was taking it seriously and think the war they did because there was more money to help initially when put boudin. -- was putin moved in. host: alright our line from others from california. hello. caller: good morning. i will have to say that i am definitely not a party affiliate for trump or biden, but i really want -- rather than have obama on the second term. if people would stop worrying about how he looks which is not a problem for me is fine but some people worry about a person with charisma or great looks.

but he is the best man for the job. he has integrity and i appreciate him for that. host: former ohio representative. give me a specific. caller: because he has integrity. host: what do you mean by that? caller: he has policies that are here for everybody. host: ok. colleen -- caller: and. host: go ahead and finish your thought. caller: he has principles everyone can benefit from. regardless of party affiliation. he just is. host: colleen is next in michigan a supporter of president biden for another term. good morning. caller: good morning how are you? yes, marianne williamson i do not know what her deal is. she did not even get past the

primary last time. so biden, my goodness, he has gotten people to talk -- drop the diabetes medication so insulin is -- that is a huge thing. host: the one company who decided to cap at $35 i think was pfizer of -- if i believe rightly -- correctly. caller: lily. but once one does it they -- the others have to follow. and this could have been done already. i am really grateful to biden. i think he has done a great job. so i am looking forward to it. and him carrying on. host: that is colleen in michigan let's hear from diane in new jersey a former support -- a supporter of former

president trump. hello. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think we need to have donald trump back in office. i will go right to the border issue. our children are being destroyed by the fentanyl. our. country is being poisoned by it. when you think of all the people that are coming over i feel sorry for them because en route the girls are being raped the children are being stolen. doesn't president biden care about that? donald trump would never tolerate it. in addition to that, i want people to know, that president biden and what the issue of the money with his son and china it is real. people never go against china because they fought it but they own president biden. host: ok gary is in texas.

we set aside a line for those who have another person in mind when it comes to the white house in 2024 other than the current or former president. gary, in texas, good morning. you are next. caller: yes sir, i think the problem with all the politicians are i will take an both to the concert -- and oath to the constitution and then they should have to take classes. because chip roy should be president. he understands the constitution and goes by it. if everybody left and right went by the constitution the country would be fantastic because the founding fathers wrote it. host: when you say representative roy understands that and lives by it, give me an example. caller: listen to his speeches every one of the speeches on the floor he invokes the constitution and what congress is supposed to be doing. not what they are doing, but

what is constitutional for them to be doing. if we all stuck to that, and presidents and all of them. the executive order stick to the constitution and the country would be great. host: ok gary in texas his representative chip roy. and you can call in with us pres. biden (202) 748-8000, former pres. trump (202) 748-8001, another candidate (202) 748-8002 . and later his afternoon at the wilson center a discussion at the former surge w bush administration and how they develop foreign government assistance projects. what they learned and the lessons they learned along the way with the wilson center at 3:00 this afternoon. you can see it on c-span or watch it on our app c-span now.

or you can go to our website at c-span.org. myrtle is next in mississippi a supporter of joe biden 2024. tell us why myrtle. good morning. caller: good morning. joe had done more for this country in the last two years than any other president has done since i have been around. joe has done a lot but the big thing is that actually getting money out there for infrastructure. this country is falling apart. the government has not put any money into it. physically the infrastructure is falling apart it's falling apart in other ways too. but no one has put in any money into our highways, bridges, transportation system, and they have not made companies like the railroads and the tracks. they have not made them do anything. the airlines they have not updated anything.

you know. you name it. every form of transportation we have they've not updated anything because all these companies have been let off the hook. endgame tax breaks. while the rest of us -- and gave tax breaks. while the rest of us are struggling. most of us cannot get from town to town because infrastructure is so bad. i think joe is a great president he does not have a revolving door on his candidacy like trump did. i think he is great and down on any of the other representatives. thank you. host: dave is in favor of trout. tell us why. caller: good morning i volunteered for homeland security in february as a first responder. then i took my advanced biological chemical when -- weapon training in -- so here's the problem.

all the civil servants and civil servants awards i agree that is what is most important. our agency people. because james comey allowed this. and filed a false warrant. host: ok let's stick to the subject at hand. he called to say you support president trump. why is that? caller: this is why. if you do not prosecute people that broke the oath to the constitution which is the agency people and the civil servants we are discussing. the whole system is broken that is why president trump has to come back and finish this. james comey should be in an orange jumpsuit. hillary clinton attempted the murder of people in certain agencies. and on top of that the war in you reign is because of the push to be in nato. obama pushed them to be in nato

and biden pushed them to be in nato. host: ok thank you. we have a how light by -- with we have a highlighted area on the dues -- with washington post. this morning the story says several audience members at the reagan library came to get a closer look at desantis as they await his decision on 2024. they say he may have the best chance of beating president biden. and that he is the most formidable opponent to former president donald trump. he is waging his first -- third straight presidential bid. he has not announced whether or not he will run for president but here is a portion of the speech from the reagan library yesterday. >> i think you guys have a lot of problems out here but your governor is concerned about what we are doing in florida so i thought i had to come by. i believe parents in the state of florida should be able to send their kids to elementary

school without having an agenda damped down their throats. they should not be teaching a second-grader that they can choose their gender. that is wrong and that is not going to happen in the state of florida. [applause] >> and i know you have a company in burbank that had different ideas about that, but i can tell you this, disney may have gotten everything they wanted in florida the last 60 years, but there is a new sheriff in town now and we are not backing down to that. we are also working to reorient higher education toward the goals that i mentioned. to do that, we already enacted reform so that all tenured professors in the state of florida must undergo review

every five years and can be let go for poor performance. [applause] >> we will also be signing legislation during our legislative session to ensure that our universities operate in a colorblind fashion. accordingly, we will eliminate all dia bureaucracies and programs. no more discrimination. so in florida, we say very clearly, we will never, ever surrender to the will mob -- the woke mob. our state is where they go to die. host: he is not formally announced as running for president but many are looking at that. on the line for ron desantis along with many others. hello. caller: hello i think we have to ask this question because most

diplomats have not announced this. only a few have announced that they will run but of the few people that have announced desantis is promising, but i want to wait to hear his position on the economy and especially on government spending and government waste. and waste inefficiency and fraud and abuse is rampant in washington. people who say we can raise our taxes still more to pay for deficits and debts have no idea what i am talking about. i will be paying 50% tax or more when i start getting my 401(k). and i will wait until i am 75 to do that which is the limit. it is 50% tax rate for a person who is not even rich. that is ridiculous it should be 10% or 3%. so a lot of those are not paying their taxes and the rest of us have to pay a huge amount.

this is due to a huge inefficiency fraud and waste in washington which is anywhere from 10% through 73%. host: let's hear from supporter of president biden in florida. hello. caller: hello? host: hello, you are on. caller: yes, i have been living in florida almost 40 years. and everything is ok. i became a citizen just last year and because i had to vote, i had to vote because as president trump -- he is not even a human being. he is really bad and everybody acts like zombies that follow him they become zombies. host: as far as president biden why do you support him specifically? caller: because he has models that have nothing to do with

religion because i am catholic. but he has morals. i am nervous. because i am sick i am sick about this. and there's a lot of other people sick. and a lot of people feel bad about this. trump and all these other people and congress and democrats and republicans they are like the giants and the jets fighting against each other instead of doing their job. trump, i know he is older. he is older, but if he runs again they be the people will vote for him. host: an president biden is his age a current concern for you? caller: excuse me? host: is president biden's current age a concern for you? caller: not really. the president has a group like coaches and just like a miami team or the giants they have other coaches. he has trump or just him whatever he says goes.

he never got any advice. but biden it is him and a group of people worth him -- with him. he makes the decision but he also takes advice. host: let's go to john in long beach california a supporter of president trump in 2024. tell us why. caller: he secured the border. he is one of the only presidents that did not start a war. and he cannot be bought off by lobbyists. and the color benches called in that guy did not know his ass from a hole in the ground. host: let's go to jodey in kentucky. who is 20 for material? -- 2024 material. caller: [indiscernible] host: why is that?

caller: he will back our second amendment all the way. the democrats do not care nothing about the people. all they care about is like this woman -- [indiscernible] the democrats wanted to give our money to other countries. we should always come first. and we are getting put last. host: that is john in kentucky he mentioned nikki haley giving a speech in cpac. you can see it online but this is a portion from over the weekend. >> the democratic party is now a socialist party. bernie sanders and eoc at least they own it. look at how much taxpayer money biden has wasted since he took office. on joe biden's watch, we hit $31 trillion in national debt.

he has put us on track to add 20 trillion more dollars in the next 10 years. and by the way, some republicans have helped him do that. we need to stop with the air marks and pet projects once and for all. [applause] >> jo's only regret is that he has not spent more. he wants more handouts to illegal immigrants and more bailouts to rich college students. he doesn't mind spending so much because he knows it is your money he is spending. the only thing joe biden needs to spend more time of is more time in retirement. host: those speeches are still available on our website at c-span.org if you want to see them including former president trump who gave his speech saturday. and windy in our twitter feed

saying we need a woman president and vice president. not biden. no more big ego males like tramp -- trump and joe biden. this is don from wisconsin saying it is difficult to determine who devote for without knowing who the vp for each candidate will be because of president biden's and trucks age. condoleezza rice would be a good candidate. that is a way to reach out to us on twitter if you want. let's hear from kathy in florida a supporter of president biden for another term. kathy, go ahead. caller: thank you, good morning. i am an avid supporter of president biden. i absolutely love him. he has done so much for this company -- country. yes, he has aids, but with age comes wisdom. host: as far as the economy.

-- yes, he has aged, but with age comes wisdom. host: tell me specifically something that you appreciate. caller: there is a republican addenda to get rid of medicare it is been their agenda for over 40 years. host: john in washington. a supporter of former president trump, go ahead. caller: hello. i have a comment on this. those that want to sit there and wine and all they could do is cry that biden -- all he has to do is blame other people. they cannot put on their big boy pants. host: let's start with your support for former president donald trump why give him another term? caller: because he is not biden. he has made america first not make america last.

you know, so anybody who wants to help america get out of this rat hole in for him. i am at maga is the rs going to come after me now? -- the irs going to come after me now? host: we have vicki next. caller: good morning. yes, actually, just looking for a candidate. i was a trump supporter i voted for him. heat have never been a biden supporter. i would say -- i have never been a biden supporter. i would say that from years back. i am old and i remember some of the policies and stuff he has done. i've never been a biden supporter. and i will say president biden to give him that respect.

but, you know, i know, the other lady or other people have commented on the age. you get wisdom and all that stuff and that is true in some cases, but the president of the united states has to be on their toes at all times. and i think that is not the case right now. host: vicki you -- caller: there's a lot of physical and emotional stress on this job. host: is there another candidate in your mind that you would like to see other than the ones you mentioned? caller: no. i do not think there are any candidates in the game. a lot of people are thinking about it. i am conservative christian so i am looking for somebody that has the same morals and ethics that i -- have.

your, you know, -- poor, you know, somebody that comes close -- or, you know, somebody that comes close. i don't think our current president has that. that is not being seen but i think you for letting me talk. host: vicki from north carolina calling in and that will be the last call on this. there is a practice in congress that is called earmarking that since federal dollars to states and localities. we will talk about that process, how it works, and concerns about it and all these things with michael running at the policy center and they have looked at the process and they will tell you about it next when washington journal continues. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: c-span now app is an

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foreign leaders and others all on the c-span networks. the c-span now focal -- mobile app, and c-span.org/ukraine. and our resource page where you can watch the latest online and on demand. and follow tweet from journalist on the ground. go to c-span.org/ukraine. announcer: washington journal continues. host: michael with the bipartisan policy center. he is here to look at the process of earmarks. thank you for joining us. guest: thanks for having me. host: as far as a 101 what is an earmark? guest: an earmark is where individual members of congress can designate a number of money to projects in their state. going back to the early days of the republic we saw lighthouses were an example of earmarks. nowadays we see things like roads and bridges.

extending an airport runway. sometimes it is a hospital or education programs. or job retraining. it can cover a lot of things. that traditionally a lot of it has been civic infrastructure. host: what is the benefit for a representative or senator to engage in this process? guest: it allows them to meet the local needs of their constituents. washington is a place where a lot of americans see that congress is not getting a lot done for them. this is a way members of congress can demonstrate indirect ways that the congress and for -- federal government can deliver for them. whether it is fixing a road or building a new hospital. host: a gives the legislator a way to say i did this for you and show the dollar figure them out -- attached to it guest: absolutely. the members of the of the orioles and can sit -- of the electoral's and their constituents.

host: this is in the constitution but where is it? guest: it is not in the constitution but the constitution is clear that no money shall be drawn from the treasury without a law enacted by congress. we think this falls squarely within article one hour of the purse -- power of the purse. although a lot of the power has been designated to the executive branch to make decisions that we've seen in executive branch agencies making more decisions about where funds should be spent rather than congress. we, at the bipartisan policy center c directed spending as a way for congress to gain back power. host: what were you looking at specifically when you publish this report? guest: we looked at a couple things. it is important to know that there is an earmark oratorio from the last 10 years from 2011

until 2021. and that came after a period where there was a lot of desire of restrained federal spending and a few isolated instances of abuse. and after a lot of encouragement from organizations like the -- recommended ways to fix the process and make it more ethical , congress decided to restore the practice. we wanted to assess how it went. we assisted across a few different things. we wanted to see how well they did in terms of implementing some of the guard rules we asked them to put -- guard to put in place. and they came with the select congress. this is a bipartisan effort and the bipartisan policy center made recommendations to other experts. across a number of things congress did make good on the guardrails.

so members have to certify they had no financial interest nor do their family members in any project they are requesting. no for-profit recipient can receive funds. there were a lot of problems with that in the old earmark days which is why we moved away from calling it earmarking. the process is new and different. we have a government ocalan ability office -- the government accountability office. and members are not just moonlighting and coming up with ideas on their own they have to have local leaders to buy in. and local leaders are the ones that come to their representatives telling them what they need such as mayors, city councilmembers, people on county commissions. and they implemented a regime of transparency that was unprecedented in this spending process. we've never known so much about who is requesting funds for what and how much money they are

getting and where it is going ever before. host: our guest is with us until 10:00. if you want to ask us about this process and how it works. democrats (202) 748-8000 republicans (202) 748-8001 independents (202) 748-8002 . host: for fy 22 the average request for your survey is a 98% change from the previous. two point four million was the first amount.

those urban numbers fill in the blank. guest: this reflects about 80% of the house was bipartisan in effort. 80% of the house participated. and 60% of the republican conference made requests. members were limited this was not a free for all. members could only make 10 request in 2022 and they bumped it up to 15 and 2023 as they showed that they can do this responsibly. there is a cap overall. and the numbers reflect about 435 members. 80% making recommendations to the appropriations committee and getting projects back to their district. host: there was another chart that shows what states receive general aid when you look at the per capita funding with art of being on the top of the list going down to indiana on the bottom of the list. what does the chart show us?

guest: it reflects a few things. a fairly even distribution of fund across the states. pc some states with larger in population do better -- you do see some states with border population do better because i have work representatives. but there are some states where the members did not participate and that left money on the table. we get a little bit of uneven distribution in the house because we had mostly republican sitting out on the process. 6 host: as far as legislators who refused to participate in the process are there those that will not put in any earmarks. guest: yeah there are. almost all democrats with a couple of exceptions. in about one third of the republicans in the senate participated. and i think that reflects a few things.

some members say that they were taking a wait and see approach. they wanted to see how the new process and guardrails if they really kept things in line. and another thing is there is a bit of a hangover with people who remember or have misconception of the old earmark system. which is longgone. and there is a bit of a concern there still. we hope they will see the new reality this process is better and can do a lot for the constituents. host: this is from the debate of the separate spending bill last year. senator shelby of alabama leading congress but also having a record as the most earmarking is concerned. talk a little bit about the fee care and does that happen as far as high figures? guest: sometimes but sometimes there is good reason for that. what we have to keep in mind is that sometimes an earmark in

terms of dollar value really reflects that major national priority that happens to be combined with local priority. you think about florida ever grades -- everglades protection that is an expensive project. coastal flood mitigation in the louisiana is an expensive project. so sometimes the high dollar value really makes it look like an outlier, but historically there has been a -- an issue. fair criticism where members of the appropriations committees did the process. and the ranking republicans. and it probably reflects that. in our report we say to the sinner appropriations committee senator randy murray and senator susan collins. we just ask you to look at this and be more mindful of the distribution and try to make it more equitable among members.

host: let's hear from viewers this is anthony and chicago the democrats line. the bipartisan policy center on the topic of earmarks. go ahead. caller: good morning a quick question for you. the lifespan of appropriations you talked about guardrails. why the hell, congress the first thing let's be real for two years at a time the appropriations, a lot of the need for working people in the community involve projects that take longer in terms of time. talk to the long-term nature is there a guard rail to ensure the dollars have the longevity to build housing to narrow roads and make them safer including bike lanes and etc.. feeding people because i a lot of times the funding will get sent through a bunch of ngos and they float around and get printed out.

and there is not a game plan for these projects and i don't like the term pet project but a lot of times the money gets spent and they say let's put x amount of dollars out to my community but where does it really go? can you speak to the guardrails that track how the money gets spent, the longevity, and the planning that goes around the appropriations? guest: that is an excellent question. to keep in mind, the dollars are available for multiyear and it is it's affected they will not be spent right away. at the same time they are limited. some of the dollars or one year funding. they are projects that are really shovel ready and ready to get underway in what it means to be used and spent quickly. another thing to keep in mind is that even though congress is directing this money, it is the executive agencies and department of the federal

government that have two distributed. they have a number of processes for you to go through. they have a lot of tracking and there is paperwork for entities to qualify who get the money. there are accounting procedures that have to be met. the government accountability office will be tracking these in the long term but in our rural work we tell congress -- in our work we tell congress they need to make the appropriation for them -- going forward. it is on a year -- we think the long-term extension of this would be better. in terms of how it inns up in different places -- in terms of how it ends up in different places. there are some nonprofits who are receiving it, but the projects are in very specific areas. they have to show evidence of how the money is used it is not for general purposes of we want

to improve traffic flow in town. what we are talking about is we want to improve this specific road on this specific timeline and this is how we intend to use the funds. but in terms of long-term challenges and the caller mentioned housing for engine -- for instance, this is a temporary fix for local problems while congress may be struggling to address things like housing supply. and issues around homelessness. this is a way for local communities to break through the gridlock and have short-term solutions. in terms of long-term congress has to act. we are talking about 5-10 year programs for your interest. caller: thank you. you were talking of spending that i was thinking, what would

happen -- why are the republicans so hesitant to tax the rich and the millionaires and billionaires unfairly just like we pay our taxes, regular people on their earnings. host: ok i don't know if this falls in this office if you want to take that. guest: i am not a tax expert and there's all kinds of political debates between the two parties of how the tax system should work. keep in mind this is more on the spending side, but a lot of viewers may be interested to know that the directed spending does not add to our deficit or to the debt. what this really is is take the two words directed spending. congress already decides a topline number of what they spend. this is congress deciding here is a percent of money where we decide where it will be spent.

executive branch you can decide the rest of it. in terms of adding extra spending directed spending or earmarks do not actually in -- add to that. host: is there a federal budget total that makeup earmarks? guest: there is but it is small in the grand scheme of things. it adds up to one third of 1% of all federal spending. if you think of the federal budget as a dollar that is one third of a penny. then it is about 1% of the discretionary budget. it is very small and the grand scheme of things, but for the communities who receive some of the funding, it can make a big difference. if we are talking about, for instance, the eastern tennessee children's hospital which serves about 73 of the 95 counties in tennessee. this is the only independent, nonprofit hospital in tennessee that serves children even if

they cannot pay for the services that they need. they need an mri machine and it is 21 years old at the end of its life span. were looking at $2.5 million which is a small amount and terms of the federal budget in the trillions. but for the community that needs that a new mri machine makes a big difference. and that is an example of the ways that this can meet the needs of constituents. host: so of your texas look. saying earmarking should be illegal. they are now used to only buy votes. an policy for an election. guest: that's an interesting perspective. i think that used to be the case in the earmark system. i do not blame her for having the view but things have changed and i hope you will be open to that. i think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. if you look at the last spending bill that you're talking about, never projects for a lot of

members that ended up voting against the bill. and it was explicitly understood that there were not going to pull out member projects who voted against them. and they have ways of doing that. so i think now the new system is really understood and it is pretty hard to do that kind of vote buying like you could under the old system where there was not a lot of transparency. there is so much transparency in the system now that it would be really hard to cheat and do something like that. do something corrupt or buy votes but it would be even easier to get caught. host: our guest is at the bipartisan policy center michael thorning how is the center finance? guest: we are financed through a combination of foundations. we received some funds from corporate donors and a small amount from individual donors. we actually think that that

balance actually helps us to keep a really bipartisan perspective. not leaning into anyone or more direction than the other. i want to say some people may think why is this guy is a big supporter. we do not have policy funding. we do not apply for earmarks. we are totally disconnected from that. we see this as a way to prove the legislative process. there have been studies and some scholars, one of our co-authors who's a professor in claremont county college kevin gosar who is a scholar at the american interprocess. they study congress and they look at this and found that the 10 year moratorium earmark is more like a 10 year mistake. congress's law making climb in that time. and in terms of the issues

around federal spending and the debt, that got worse while there were no directed spending. the idea that getting rid of this will solve it does not make a lot of sense. host: this is keith in connecticut the independent line. caller: hello this is the first, been able to get through on the air. here are my simple questions. how does this gentleman, they never want to tell you about your tax -- there tax status and they will not be specific about who funds them. so i want to know what influence he feels that direct indirect and unlimited and nonreportable financial donations to members of congress really runs this country. and when he used the phrase american enterprise sit -- institute i would like for him to explain what a wonderful person charles koch is. thank you for your listening. guest: someone, in terms of epc

our financial status we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. all of our tax information and 990 forms are available. you can find those online and those -- there is a list of who our major donors are. they are large foundations. some businesses and business leaders and individuals who support our work and believe in the mission of bipartisanship and solving the country's problems through consensusbuilding rather than division. i do not think there would be and he surprises in the sorts of supporters that we have. you know it is really brand name kitchen table foundations you have heard of. people like the carnegie corporation and the johnson foundation respectable, large foundations that support nonprofits like bpc all across the country. in terms of connections between

campaign donors and members, i think this new system cuts out a lot of the ability for campaign donors to try to carry influence and receive an earmark or directed spending. no for-profit entities can be recipients of the fun. there is on -- fund. in terms of the transparency that we now see, it would be very hard i think to connect or to not connect the dots in terms of a member making a request. hoping maybe to receive a campaign donation or the other way. i understand viewers are skeptical of this. there has been instances in the past where this did happen. and that is why we told them to fix the system. we really think they did we

think there is more they can do but they've come a long way. host: when a legislator makes a request how much information do they have to give whoever is responsible for it to justify their request? guest: they submitted a request to the help appropriations committee -- house appropriations committee. they have subcommittees that are broken up by topic areas such as transportation, housing and urban development, there is defense, so on and so forth. labor and health and human services. they may request to the subcommittees and they have to submit evidence of community support. today submit a letter saying they have no financial interest for their family. and they have to make the case to the committees because the committees are deciding among a lot of different projects and the committees only have so much funding each. and the other thing i want to say to keith who may be concerned, a lot of the

companies and industries where there were issues with influence in the past. and earmarks. it is largely rated -- related to defense. the defense committees are totally in eligible now as well as for-profit companies. we really think they have taken out that risk. host: you have of you are asking the question is there any reason why my representative or senator would not submit an earmark request? why would i vote for somebody who would not try to get earmark funding? guest: that's a good question. like i said earlier there is a hangover of the old reputation. i think it is starting to change. we did see between the first year where they did this process for physical year 2022 until fiscal year 2023 there were members that saw that. they did not make requests in the first year and they saw they thought the system was fair and ethical and made request in the second year. we help more members will come

over now that they see that things are different. some members have an ideological opposition to this because they think mistakenly that it either adds to the deficit or that it has to do with book buying -- vote buying or other things they want to avoid. but i think there are a lot of reasons to think there are concerns. host: on the chair of the appropriations committee is the republican of tennessee. and the democrat from connecticut. what have they expressed about the process? guest: representative dilauro was the chair of the appropriations committee last congress when it was restored. she gets a lot of the credit for putting in place the guardrails that we talked about. in addition to the house of modernization committee i mentioned. we know she is a supporter she made request. she believes in the system and especially in the new, and more

transparent and accountable system. representative granger has a long history in this as well. she was around before the moratorium in 2011 and we know back in the old system she was someone who made requests. she did not make request in the last congress but she is in charge of the whole process so her responsibility is to issue the guidance that is going to control this. anytime you see a party change in leadership as we saw here, you may expect to see someone putting their own mark on it they see their own challenges or issues that they want fix. so, representative granger issued a lot of guidance they carried over from last year. and the new guidance that in her view is meant to be processed better. host: we take one more collar grover, from virginia. democrat line. guest: i want to know they -- caller: i want to know they got all the checks and balances on

these people but when they get caught nothing happens to them. if they would put someone in jail they would have a tendency not to steal. someone like donald trump's son-in-law. he got $2 billion from the press. and then what happened to him? i heard them talking about it, but they did not do anything. host: ok, thank you. guest: that is a fair question. in the old system we did see the abusers in up going to jail and losing their seat in congress. they were caught. we think under the new system it will not only be easier to catch them, but we -- i think there it of reason to believe if someone was doing something unethical that they will get caught and will be punished. host: a lot more in that report by the bipartisan policy center. serving as the structural

democracy director for the organization. thanks for your time. that's it for the program today. another edition of washington journal comes in at 7:00 tomorrow morning. we will see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] >> coming up today president biden will speak at the association of firefighters legislative conference in washington dc. later a conversation with members of the george w. bush administration on how they approached government -- development hosted by the wilson center. you can watch on our free mobile

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