drew his pamphlet. later the declaration of independents -- independence was signed. common sense from thomas pai2346789ne -- thomas paine. be sure to scan the q.r. code to listen to our companion podcast where you can learn more about the authors of the book featured. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internominate providers -- internet providers. we are just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who it most. >> charter communications supports cpan as a public service. along with these other television providers.

tkpweuflg you -- giving you a front row seat to democracy. " continues. host: joining us this morning is that cohen, congressional reporter with bloomberg government to talk about the week in congress. let's pick up where we work just on for the first hour and we were talking about what's being negotiated behind closed doors between what many call the hard right freedom caucus and the moderate mainstream caucus. what do we know about this negotiation? guest: the house freedom caucus late last night which is more fiscally conservative and hard right once two/government spending but also opposed kevin mccarthy speakers up earlier this year and they reached a deal with the main caucus which is a more moderate business friendly faction of the house conference. they came together on this framework and quickly put out a

nearly 200 page plan that wouldslash nondefense spending for 8% by the next 31 days starting at the end of september which essentially would give the good negotiators more time to come up with full year government funding bills. the september 30 deadline is coming up and they asked for legislation that would pass a stopgap measure or full year budget bills which seems unlikely. host: what has the speaker said about how he would bring this deal to the floor? what happens first? guest: the plan is for them to bring up this bill thursday. the way the house worked as they will come back later tonight for a vote which is the bed check vote. the house rules committee will also me today to mark up what's called the continuing resolution.

normally, acr would keep gumbel it -- government funding flats. it's more of a stop gap measure because it decreases funding. over the next couple of days, there would be a procedural vote to set the terms of debate to pass a rule for debate on the house floor which then would tee final passage of this bill and send it over to the senate which has its own obstacles. host: is the rules committee the first hurdle for this potential deal? tell us why. is it because of the makeup of the rules committee and is that related to speaker mccarthy's position as the leader? guest: any legislation that wants to get through the house the dozen have wide bipartisan support needs to go to the rules committee first. because this stopgap measure is unlikely to attract democratic support given the cuts on spending and security measures

that democrats oppose, it will need republicans only to carry this bill so rules committee allows them to set the terms. mccarthy's allies make up the majority on this panel. i believe it's seven republicans and four democrats. the four democrats are likely to oppose but there's two members of the house freedom caucus on the rules committee. they could vote with democrats to make it a tight vote in the house rules committee which could block it. there are three steps over the next couple of days, the stopgap measure, the rules committee and the rules on the floor and final passage for it to be sent to the senate. host: we read some posts on x this morning from some conservatives. i want to show a few of them to our viewers who may have missed it and get your reaction.

what do you make of just those four and there are couple of others.

does speaker mccarthy have the votes now? guest: the answer is no. it makes it a difficult week for him and his leadership to fund -- to find those votes. democrats are likely to oppose this bill given the border measures and the deep cuts to non-defense programs which democrats tend to support as well as the defense programs the public likes sticky flat. the issue here is that mccarthy only has a four seat majority. it was five sees but republican congressman chris stewart utah resigned friday due to some family challenges. that seat is now vacant and that leaves one less room for margin for error for mccarthy on the floor. whether they find some way to get these folks who can becomeyesses or they change the rules committee to get to a yes but what we saw last night is not the final story. host: even if the speaker were to get this through the house this week, what about the

senate? what do they say they want? guest: the senate has said for a long time that the a senate appropriations committee which marked up all 12 of these appropriations bill at a higher level than with the house has done don't have the deeper cuts especially to defense spending. they are closer to the debt ceiling agreement that was reached by speaker mccarthy and the white house earlier this year that avoided a default of the debt and set statutory caps on spending across a category's. they will look at this bill and they will say the cuts are a problem and the lack of any supplemental aid the white houses as were in dealing with natural disasters in florida and hawaii were aid for ukraine. the ukrainian president will be in washington this week making the case for more security aid as he battles this invasion from russia. both democrats and republicans in the senate say they need to pass that funding sooner rather than later. host: if this were to pass the

house and the senate were to take up their own continuing resolution or refuse what the house has done, then there's only eight working days left. what happens? guest: there is very limited time to get this done. a couple of days for the house to pass their version if it comes across the floor. then the senate takes longer to clear the house because of the filibuster and the senate customs of longer debate time. that's something that could go up until the 11th hour. if the senate kicks it back to the house with some amendments then there is less time and potentially goes past the september 30 deadline and then would we would be in shutdown territory. it's not unusual if a bill gets down to the wire that there's technically a shutdown for a couple of hours.

that means temporary furloughs for some employees were stopgap that last couple of days so it gets to the white house for president biden signature. there is very little time for them to reach a deal and there will have to be some tricky procedural hurdles to get over first. host: we want to invite our viewers to join us in this conversation. we will take your comments and questions about the potential government shutdown and the week ahead in congress. democrats, (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents and textus as well at (202) 748-8003. you can join us on facebook.com/ c-span or x. bill from pensacola, florida, independent, you are first, go ahead. i've got to push the button,

sorry about that. start over. caller: i am a former that and i've lived there many shutdowns and they never help anybody. we have a party that feels that holding everybody hostage is the way to get things done. they dragged their feet throughout the year to get it to this point or come up with some novel thing to shut it down. what does that achieve? absolutely nothing. host: zach cohen? guest: in a government shutdown, there are two classes of federal employees -- one is essential and nonessential federal employees. the essential federal employees keep doing the job and certainly there are parts of the government that see no changes to their operations even in the case of a shut down because they

are critical to things like national security. then there are members of the federal government that are nonessential that can go on furlough without significant interruptions to government operations and those folks might include this caller who would then go home and wait on furlough and i get paid until the government reopens with really no guarantee they would get that back pay unless congress decides to do so. there are vast implications of a shut down. the last time we saw one was 2018 in the middle of the trump administration. we might see a similar shutdown over the similar issue a border security which is included in this stopgap measure. once the government shuts down, it's a question of how long it lasts. host: is it a full or partial shutdown? guest: it's technically a full part is a full government shutdown because none of the appropriations have been passed into law yet. there were a handful in 2018 of

these bills that had been signed into law. those agencies continued to operate while others were shut down. the 2018 shutdown was the longest in american history but it was not a full shutdown on the american government. host: surely in connecticut, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to ask if there is a place where we can get some clarity on how shutdowns of the government affect regular people like myself. it says they are talking about the government workers and they are talking about other agencies but as a regular citizen, i do not understand how it affects me. i am a retiree and i receive social security as well as a pension. i don't know how these things

affect regular citizens like might daughter who has children in school. these things are outdated and we want to know if they threaten each other about shutting down the government. what is the threat to us? host: we will have zach cohen respond. guest: social security checks will continue to go out in a shut down and schools would stay open because they are run by state and municipalities rather than the federal government. those would continue to operate. the best way for folks to keep track of this stuff is as we get closer to a potential shutdown on october 1 is various government agencies on the .gov website. some of the determinations have not been made yet. i believe the office of management and budget is the hr company for the federal government will make

determinations on what exactly would shut down in the event of a funding collapsed september 30. host: according to news reports, the white house and some lawmakers would like an additional $20 billion for ukraine in any sort of continuing resolution. you mentioned the president of ukraine will be coming to washington. talk about the dynamic there, what will he be doing in washington and is he likely to make the case and get enough support for funding? guest: volodymyr zelenskyy is arguably the best advocate ukraine has for security spending in washington. he is popular among democrats and republicans alike but not so much by members of the house republican conference in a couple of senate republicans who are skeptical of how it's being spent. mitch mcconnell likes to point out that this spending doesn't

go straight to ukraine but gets used to replenish stockpiles of weapons the u.s. government has already produced which means jobs at weapons making manufacturers across the country. volodymyr zelenskyy's job will be to thank the united states for all the aid it has given over the last year or so of this invasion by russia of ukraine and then to ask for more aid especially at this critical junction for the ukrainian military as it launches a counteroffensive against russian forces. host: here is one of our viewers in a text -- guest: this is the process of congress for better or for worse. september 30 will come up and that's the end of the fiscal year and each year, congress has

to sign off on 12 appropriations bill to keep these agencies funded. we have seen lapses in the past and normally such shutdowns are avoided with a stopgap measure. the real issue here is that the stopgap measure highlights parts that the democrats will support not even all the republicans will support. there's been talk about changing the weight government is funded over the years. it could be a two year appropriation cycle so these fights don't happen every year were couple of months. there has been really no movement on those long-term reforms that would be needed. host: as the debate plays out, what is happening with the potential motion to vacate the chair for speaker mccarthy? guest: that's essentially a move to fire mccarthy as speaker.

during the balloting over the speakership in january, folks might remember there was a deal reached that a motion to vacate could be triggered by just one member of the house. it would still require a majority of the house to actually change leadership of the house, but forcing a vote which would be politically embarrassing for mccarthy and his team only requires one member. that is one reason why he has bent over backwards not only to please the far right of his congress but also more moderate members who are up for reelection next year in heavily democratic states. he needs to keep all of them on board and it's just one of them gets to the point of wanting to trigger that vote, you could see a repeat of what we saw in january with a week of balloting over the speakership without business being done in the house. host: what to the speaker tell his conference members about the

potential threat behind closed doors last week? there were reports of colorful language that was used. guest: i'm not sure i'm allowed to repeated on air. mccarthy wanted to go into the 2024 election focused on things like the economy and border security but instead, the new cycle tends to be dominated by debates like this, these internal factions that tend to be worked are -- worked out behind closed doors. he took to a private meeting that quickly lead to my colleagues and others that he was upset with some of his members. he said bring this motion to the floor if you are going to hold over my head but use more colorful language. in illustrates the heightened tensions on display with a lot at stake. host: pennsylvania, democratic caller, good morning. caller: good morning.

yes, when the republicans are out of power, they talk a lot about deficits. they don't care about the deficit when they are in power. the deficit is $1 trillion. why don't they blame trump for the deficit? host: talking about when they are in power -- guest: the house appropriations committee which is the dublin of the senate appropriations committee wrote these full year funding bills, they do cut spending. i think it is indicative that especially house republicans are concerned about the trajectory of the federal debt which certainly is determined not just

by how much the government is spending but how much is bringing in. you have a guest coming on who will be more knowledgeable in this issue but generally, republicans want to cut government spending and we see that in the stopgap measure which seems to have the majority of the house republican conferences supported. the tricky part in emergency cases is things like the covid pandemic where the deficit ballooned under republican leadership. republicans controlled the senate as well as the white house. at this time where the economy is not in a recession and where inflation is cooling, not unusual to see republicans who are in power in the house trying to use that power to cut some spending in the name of reducing the debt and the deficit. host: it was also announced in recent days by the speaker that there would be an impeachment inquiry into president biden. how will that play out? guest: not much has changed right now on that front.

in actuality, the three committees that have been pursuing allegations of crime and the biden family, some of which is playing out in the courts against hunter biden but those three committees come of the house oversight committee judiciary and the house ways and means committee have already been investigating a potential nexus which hasn't been proven between hunter biden's business dealings and any potential corruption by president joe biden. this impeachment inquiry serves two purposes. one is legal which allows house republicans a little more power to issue a subpoena against the white house or other entities in the courts to make the case that those subpoenas should be answered as they seek more information about hunter biden and his business and any potential relationship with them vice president joe biden or former vice president joe biden. the other issue is its

political. members of the house conference like marjorie taylor greene said they would not support a government funding bill absent some movement on impeachment. sure enough, house speaker kevin mccarthy came back from the august recess and he announced the impeachment inquiry. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene came into the speaker's office and said i'm ready to support a funding bill. as the deadline to fund the government gets closer, mccarthy but this might be an opportunity to create more support for a funding bill at least in the short term but certainly, it will be more complicated than initially expected. host: ohio, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. i am a retired federal employee. i was always brought in as essential because i worked in the national security area. i've been through at least a

dozen of these periods. i've never seen in all that time i was working in all the other federal employees had vacations, congress always voted to reimburse them for staying at home. we were working twice as hard because a lot of the people didn't have to come in. those of us that did had to take up the slack for all the people who weren't there. host: zach cohen? guest: there are two classes of federal employees and we heard from two of them so far today and i should thank them for their service in government. there are members when they are furloughed if they have the savings to go on vacation,

that's within their rights. there are other families who rely on that pay to come in if they are a single income household, certainly, reimbursing for the time they would have been working and they weren't getting that pay. congress is done that on a fairly wrigley basis. you are right, it creates two classes. with some members, some federal employees who continue to work while others are on furlough which can create some economic hardship for those not getting that pay. host: also happening this week on capitol hill, merrick garland will testify. where will he be testifying and what will he be asked from these lawmakers? guest: i believe is for the house judiciary committee. it's possible it was in the senate as well. republicans have been bringing attorney general garland to

hearings on a wide area of issues. host: it's related to these negotiations on a potential government shutdown. marjorie taylor greene in herx post referring to the weaponization of the justice department because they don't want to include funding for the justice department. guest: that's right, there is some language in house republican spending bills that would cut funding for things like these investigations into the trump business and as he faces the multiple federal indictments in house republicans, one of the first things they did when they took power this year was created subcommittee on weaponization of the federal government. it's a subcommittee of the house judiciary committee which is led by jim jordan of ohio. host: the attorney general will

be before that committee wednesday at 10 a.m. eastern time. that's where you will hear his testimony and you can watch it on c-span3, c-span now, our free mobile app and on our website, c-span.org. here is eddie from tucson, arizona. what are your thoughts? guest: this is the struggle that i think mccarthy has had the last couple of months. he has two competing parts of the conference he needs to contend with. there are members of the more moderate wing, the folks in the more than a dozen districts that were elected as republicans in house districts that also voted for president joe biden 2020 and they will need to continue that bipartisan outreach. we hear from those folks that they are not ready to move forward with impeachment and

they have not seen the evidence of biden doing anything that would be tantamount to a high crime or misdemeanor that would be worthy of impeachment or an inquiry. there are people in their districts who had voted for biden. there are members who were in much more republican districts who are only concerned with winning a primary or the general election. mccarthy has had to straddle these two issues for a long time. the reason why the house is not voting to start an official impeachment inquiry as mccarthy himself requested during the impeachment of former president donald trump is that there simply aren't the votes there to start one. he has taken the initial step to ramp up the probe of the biden family without putting any of his members on notice or on the record in a way that could hurt them politically. host: there is a lot to follow this week in congress and you

can do so by following zach cohen on x. >> join us tonight for the premiere of c-span's new series, books that shaped america. in partnership with the lie wraeurry of -- library of congress, we'll explored 10 books from american literature that provoked thought, won awards, led to significant societal change, and still talked about today. this week we'll feature common sense, a 47-page pamphlet written by thomas paine in 1776, as tensions between the american colonies and great britain. a history professor at the university of maryland talks about how through his familiar let he urged american independence from the british

among arcky. and months later the declaration of independence was signed. watch books that shaped america, featuring thomas paine's common sense. tonight at c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. scan the q.r. code to listen to our of course. and the authors of the book featured. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet provide providers. we are just getting started. laying 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charterommunications supports c-span as a public service. along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to mo