on "washington journal," the latest on congressional efforts to pass government funding legislation before the september 30 deadline. then the national president of the american federation of government employees, everett kelley, on a possible government shutdown and the impact on federal workers. freshman new york republican congressman anthony d'esposito talks about the government funding deadline and aid to ukraine. washington journal starts now. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, september 27. the senate returns at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we are with you for just two hours on the washington journal. we are less than four days from a potential government shutdown and the legislative path forward still unclear this morning. we will take you through the latest.

with the clock ticking and the likelihood of a shutdown increasing, we want to know what you think. we are doing so on phone lines split by political party. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. and a special line this morning for federal workers who could be impacted by a shutdown, (202) 748-8003. that is also the number you can send us a text. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media. on x, it is @cspanwj. you can start calling in now. we will take you through the latest from capitol hill. eric foley, good morning. thanks for joining us. guest: host: thanks for having me. host:they had line from the hill

this morning -- host: the headline from the hill this morning, senator grabs the wheel from house in a bid to avoid shutdown. what happened in the senate? guest: the senate advanced its own stopgap funding bill. typically these kinds of bills originate in the house come up but the senate is trying to take leave right now. democrats are pressing for the senate to do just that as we are seeing these tensions take over the house and slowing down chances of us seeing a stopgap out of the lower chamber this week. host: what is the senate proposing? what have they agreed on? this is a bipartisan bill. >> it is a bipartisan bill. it would fund the government temporarily at levels set in the

last congress. a lot of republicans on the house side do not like that. those levels were last out when democrats held control of those chambers. republicans are pushing for more immediate cuts, a contrast from what we are seeing in the senate bill. the senate bill is passing for eight to ukraine -- pressing for aid to ukraine, but we know house republicans have raised scrutiny around the idea of further aid to ukraine. some think the bill probably would have tough chances passing in the lower chamber now. host: you hear colleagues note if they jam the house before the deadline speaker mccarthy will relent and bring it to the floor. what are you watching for today and in the next couple hours when the house comes in? guest: we know that house republicans, particularly leadership, are bringing up individual spending bills for

lower overall levels. we have seen conservatives push for something to gain more conservative support. it will be interesting to see how that strategy plays out, if they are able to pass these bills. if they do not pass and we are still able to see a bill come up, we know mccarthy has been eyeing friday. so we will see what support looks like for that expected plan. host: for the house short-term funding bill, the continuing resolution, would that be what we saw early last week, the bill agreed to by republicans that included some cuts but not as much cuts as some on the conservative right would want? guest: that is kind of the expectation. we were talking to one of the

former conservative holdouts who flipped support to support one of the more recent iterations. there is an expectation that we would see not just lower overall spending levels, so cuts to overall spending levels, but also immediate cuts that would take effect for the duration, even though these changes do not have much chance of passing the senate, but there is also the expectation that we would still see border policy changes as the house pushes its signature border bill to an overall stopgap funding measure. host: your colleagues note in their story that speaker mccarthy is pushing for a meeting with president biden on some sort of agreement here. how likely is that meeting?

guest: still very early, but i did talk to some democrats. i do not think many are enthusiastic about the idea of another biden-mccarthy meeting at this stage. some feel that mccarthy does not have much authority now. his party has struggled to unify behind spending plans in the past week alone, so some democrats feel like he is in a weaker position and now is not the time for biden to meet with mccarthy. other democrats will tell you biden and mccarthy already met early this year. they had a budget cap bill and people thought that would make the process easier. host: washing it all on capitol hill is aris folley. you can follow her on twitter as she follows this debate over government funding. thanks so much for your time

this morning. we are talking with you this morning about the potential government shutdown. we are less than 100 hours away from that shut down. it would happen at midnight saturday, if an agreement to fund the government is not made before then. it was yesterday that the president offered this message on the idea of a government shutdown. >> i want to explain to you what is going on in washington now. and just about a week, we could face a government shutdown if republicans and house representatives do not do their job. there is no reason for us to be in this position. a few months ago, after a long negotiation between myself and the republican speaker of the house, we came to an agreement on spending levels for the government that will fund domestic and national security priorities while still cutting the deficit over $1 trillion over the next decade.

now there is a small group of extreme house republicans who do not want to live up to that deal , so they are determined to shut down the government now. it makes no sense. i am prepared to do my part. the republicans in the house of representatives refused to stand up to extremists in their party, so now everyone in america could be forced to pay the price. if the government shuts down, members of our u.s. military will continue to be on duty but not get paid. that is adding insult to injury since republicans have failed to stand up to one of their own senators, who for months has stood in the way of military promotions funding the government is one of the most basic responsibilities. it is time for republicans to start doing their job, the job america elected them to do. let's get it done. host: that was president biden yesterday afternoon.

yesterday evening, speaker mccarthy spoke with reporters. this is some of what he had to say about ongoing negotiations. [video clip] >> every day, americans are dying. from fentanyl. we see trains of illegal individuals coming up. we see our border agents bloodied in the fight happening at the border. the president continues to ignore it, but no more. the policies have only shifted. the president needs to secure our border. we will move a continuing resolution to bring a rule to the floor to secure our border and keep government open. why are we doing this? because america is asking for it. in massachusetts, a state far from the southern border, where there is not one republican member from congress, the governor has declared an emergency based upon the illegal immigration.

the governor of new york tells those who are coming to go somewhere else. the mayor of new york city said is -- it is destroying the city. these are democratic leaders that are calling out for this president to do something. we are going to give this president an opportunity to actually do that and keep this government open and hopefully the senate will be able to start moving some appropriations bills. host: speaker mccarthy about 12 hours ago on capitol hill. this is capitol hill this morning. we are four days away from a potential government shutdown, getting your thoughts on the phone lines as usual. a special line this morning for federal employees at (202) 748-8003. we want to hear from you especially as we face down this shutdown deadline. shell is on that line.

-- michelle is on that line. host: what agency do you work in? caller: treasury. we provide funding for low income families, so if our agency shuts down lots of low income families will be affected. i wanted to make three points. number one, americans need to understand the costs associated with shutting down operations and starting them up again, the contingency plans that have to go into place. we spent weeks just try to strategize and then how to restart again. a lot of hours and money goes into shutting down. it is just a waste. americans need to understand the government is no longer this wasteland of ineffective

bureaucrats. ever since the 1990's, there has been a reinvention of government efforts, retirements have not been backfilled. the government has gotten leaner , so if you are in the government now you're probably underpaid and overworked, so i think americans need to understand that. then i want to say in my professional and personal life i see so much waste and inefficiency in the private sector. i think government is a target for so much vitriol and negativity, like federal workers are just the bane of society when we provide a tremendous service. to our country. and we support american families

, particularly in our agency supporting low income families. for congress to target us year after year is unfair while they get paid, just so unfair. so unjust. i wanted to call in on behalf of the federal workforce. we do a tremendous job every day. i put in several hours beyond each day, beyond what i'm required to do. i know my staff and that happens across the board. host: are you a member of the federal union, the american federation of government employees? caller: no, i am not able to join that. i am not eligible to be part of the union. host: appreciate the call. i ask because coming up in about 15, 20 minutes we will be joined by the national president of the american federation of government employees,

representing tens of thousands of federal workers around the country. everett kelley will join us to take her calls and comments. stick around for that discussion. robert is next from clearwater, florida. good morning. less than four days from the potential government shutdown. what do you think? caller: i think it is going to be terrible. i think other countries will take advantage of us. if they do not do something and they shut it down, everybody will be ruined. i blame biden. host: why do you blame it on biden? caller: he didn't do nothing. all these people coming over here, it is biden's fault. he is not doing nothing about it. he ought to take these people

out of here. that is the way i think. host: that is robert in clearwater, florida. in newport, new hampshire, this is eric. what agency do you work in? caller: the department of defense. i'm also union employee as well. host: what are your thoughts on the shutdown? what is your message to congress? >> i have 33 years this year in the government and these continuing resolutions have become to chris. we usually go right to the last minute. we do some type of cr, but i agree government spending is out of control. there is no doubt we need to rein in spending, and it needs to be addressed. i think the previous caller mentioned the border.

look at the amount of people. they are not all coming in and paying taxes like people are saying or doing jobs americans do not want to do. we are bringing in millions of people and that is coming out of the federal dollars. our tax dollars. then i have been through many shutdowns in my career and it was awful. i was not making a lot at the time. i worked in corrections and i was not getting paid. i had to go to work, yet these people coming in illegally or people that have not worked in 20 years, they are going to get paid. people who have to go to work are not going to get paid. we have bills, but if you said

-- the outrage on one side if we said we were going to shut down a welfare program for one day, not going to pay you for one day, the outrage, they would be out on the senate floor screaming. i have been through it many times. i still have to pay my bills, but at the end of it we need to control our spending. we will see what happens, but thank you for your time. host: to arlington, texas. james, you are next on the line for democrats. james, if you are there, you have to turned on your television and talk through your phone. caller: alright. i got it. good morning. host: what is your message to congress amid this deadline we are facing? caller: i would like to see the democrats stand up to the

republicans and make them do their job. they have a few maga republicans that wants to hold the rest of the united states hostage. they need to -- they've got -- if they went to work like everybody else, they would have plenty of time to do these things. they wait until the last minute every year and it is the same thing every year. so i would just like to see them do their job. i want democrats to handcuff and don't give in to their tactics of holding us hostage with the shutdown. host: james in arlington, texas.

the leader of democrats in the senate is chuck schumer he took to the senate floor to talk about the short-term spending bill that has come together in the senate. usually the senate goes second on the suspending discussions, waiting for the house to start, but the senate sending their proposal over to the house. this was chuck schumer yesterday on the senate floor. [video clip] >> as i have set for months, the only solution for avoiding a harmful government shutdown is bipartisanship. we now have four days to go until funding expires on saturday at midnight. we are now right at the precipice, yet last week speaker mccarthy, instead of focusing on bipartisanship, catered to the hard right and has nothing to show for it. now the speaker will put on the

floor hard right appropriations bills that have nothing to do with avoiding a shutdown. so this week the senate will move forward first. over the weekend, senate democrats and republicans together worked in good faith to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution that will keep the government open beyond september 30. we are close to finishing our work and hope to release it soon. this is a temporary solution, a bridge towards cooperation and away from extremism. it will allow us to keep working to fully fund the federal government and spare american families the pain of a shutdown. while for sure this bill does not have everything either side wants. we will continue to fund the government at present levels while maintaining commitment to ukraine's security and humanitarian needs will also ensuring those impacted by

natural disasters across the country began to get the resources they need. >> senator chuck schumer -- host: senator chuck schumer on the floor yesterday. >> over the years, i have been clear in my view that government shutdown's are bad news. whichever way you look at them. they do not work as political bargaining chips. they create unnecessary hardships for millions of americans. nearly 46,000 service members and 22,000 civilian workers in my home state of kentucky who earn federal government paychecks -- they hardly ever produce meaningful policy outcomes at the end of the day.

a government shutdown would be an unnecessary disruption of the important work of the senate agenda. so i would urge my colleagues to work this week to avoid one. host: the senate comes in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. it is a two hour washington journal. we will take you to gavel-to-gavel coverage in the house. taking your phone calls this morning on the potential government shutdown. a special line for federal workers. curtis is an independent out of baltimore. you are next. caller: how are you doing? i am confused with this whole thing about government spending because i just saw the president say in a speech clip that it was

basic. if it was so basic, how come there is an issue coming up with a spending plan for the country for more than a year or more than a few months at a time, if it is so basic? i believe that they will issue is a distraction from what is really going on in the country. i think we need to get over and get ahead of the democrat and republican party as a whole. we need to get over the democrat and republican parties. as long as we consider ourselves democrats or republicans, we are being divided in this country by the people who continue, who want to continue to be in power.

thank you for taking my call. host: houston, texas is next, independent. good morning. caller: hello, c-span. that gentleman that just hung up the phone, go do some research. look it up and find out how they got the name democrat and republican. it will floor you. let me tell you this. if mr. mccarthy and any of his followers, matt gaetz, who want to shut the government down can give me one benefit that can come from that, one benefit, that will come from shutting the government down -- they cannot do it. stop playing with people's lives. this is what this is all about. you are playing games with people's lives. you just showed president biden

in a speech. there was an agreement reached with speaker mccarthy, a bipartisan agreement that was reached to fund the government through 2025. now the republicans are reneging on that. you have to understand what these individuals are doing and go through your research. i appreciate c-span. you guys give people a voice and it is good to hear that voice for the public. when you start listening to other media, and i will go through all of them -- you have to do the research yourself. is it not the response ability of the house of representatives to initiate bills, to get bills started?

for example, the border. whose response ability is it? even when president trump was in office, the only thing they could do was create executive orders. it is up to congress to initiate those bills. border patrol, everything going on on the border right now -- people keep saying there is tons of drugs coming across. the united states of america, for as long as i can remember, has had a drug problem. the latest drug problem that we have had is not with the fentanyl. they just broke the story on this with big pharma and how they did that. this country has had a drug problem. you stop the demand and guarantee you will stop the supply. host: we are running short on

time here, just half an hour in this first open phone segment. this is larry in columbus, ohio, republican. caller: my opinion is we should shut the government down. i am retired. i am on social security. what i would rather suffer and see the government correct itself. we have too much spending. the border needs to be secured. and another thing is democrats are fine to shutdown the entire auto industry and put all those people off work, all the companies that support the auto industry, but they do not want to reduce their spending. reduce the spending, close the borders, then reopen the government. host: we should note president biden joining the striking autoworkers on the picket line yesterday, a picture from the

general motors distribution center tuesday, where president joe biden joined those autoworkers following an invitation from the uaw president last friday. the strike has expanded to 38 sites across 20 states and could continue to expand. president biden, here's a video of him talking to some of the members. this is homer in shreveport, louisiana. good morning. caller: i think the top has been up there too long. they need to get out of the way and let women do something maybe. we are running this into the ground. we need to make some kind of change. host: to david in florida,

independent. caller: good morning, c-span. i do not know if you are old enough to remember, but the federal year used to run from july 1 to june 30. in 1974, i was a second lieutenant in the air force. we added an extra quarter, a transition quarter from july 1 to september 30. then the federal government started the fiscal year from october 1 to september 30. to the best of my knowledge, even though they extended that fiscal year, the federal government has not produced a single budget on time. so it is almost like when it comes to the federal budget, all these people in the house and senate think we have to get this

done. they have 12 months to do it. they need to start earlier. they need to shorten their vacations. if they put in a five-day workweek, they would be able to get all the government's business done. host: did you think the july to june worked better before adding in an august recess and coming back in september and the scramble as we see from year-to-year to year to get the spending bill passed? caller: it does not work any better. maybe if we start later in the year -- i do not think they even had the budget done in that transition year on september 30, and that was working on the 1975 budget. it does not matter what 12 month period you pick to do this budget. you have 12 months to get it

done. why does it always come up to the last month of the fiscal year? when they finally get out talking budget, they have this short work week. put in a 40 hour work week. i know there is other stuff behind the scenes, but plenty of time for the federal government to get its job done. this is just an excuse to keep the old budget going for a longer period of time when they do these continuing resolutions. you will never reduce her budget through a continuing resolution because you are -- the resolution said we will stay at the same funding levels for all these budget bills. i agree we need to get out of this omnibus bill. you will never cut your budget by doing an omnibus bill. you have i think 13 funding bills that have to be done for

various parts of the government. they ought to be approved individually. as each bill gets approved, then you draw them together and say that is the federal budget for the year. host: that is david out of florida. appreciate the look back to the congressional budget act. here is more info from the pew research center on congress finishing his budgeting work. in the nearly five decades that the current system has been in place, congress has passed all its required appropriations measures on time only four times. 1977, 1989, 1995, 1997. even in the last three times, congress was late in passing its budget before the actual spending bills. rate place to go for a lot of that historical information. that is it for this first segment of the washington

journal. plenty more to talk about this morning. next we will be joined by everett kelley of the american federation of government employees. we will talk about the impact on federal workers if the government is shut down. later, will be joined by new york freshman congressman athlete esposito -- anthony d'esposito. we will be right back. >> as part of our new series, we are asking you, what books do you think shaped america? >> my pick is to kill a mockingbird. >> the jungle. >> you can join the conversation by cementing your pick. just go to our website. select the viewer input tab and

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from u.s. congress and more from the world of politics all at your fingers. find schedule information for this c-span tv network and c-span radio and a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available on the apple store and google play. your front row seat washington anytime, anywhere. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our focus now on the federal employees that would be impacted the government shutdown. how many federal workers do you represent? >> about 750,000 federal ndc government workers. >> of those, how many would be furloughed during a government shutdown?

guest: that is a question that is unknown at this time. the last shut down, that was about 800,000 federal workers furloughed -- i am sorry, affected. half were furloughed. half went to work and just did not get paid. host: we are four days away from a shut down. you federal employees know at this point whether they would be furloughed or considered essential employees? or are those plants still being put together? guest: in some cases, they know and are making preparations for what could happen. host: what are you telling your union members to expect? how should they be planning? guest: first, i am remaining hopeful. i am telling them to continue to call congress and ask them to not allow a shutdown to occur. i am telling them to prepare in

the event that a shutdown occurs , prepare financially as best you can. as we know, it is hard for workers in america to prepare to not have a paycheck, but the best that you can, try to prepare. we are trying to make sure we provide information or resources for employees that might be affected as we did during the last shut down. guest: -- host: we had a call or talking about the shutting down and reopening process, saying it is disruptive on the front and back side of that there there is so much waste in that process. these shutdown plans, can you talk through how it is affecting your workers and what they are telling you? >> it is a psychological effect on our workers. they continue to have to deal with this issue year after year

and it has a psychological effect. it is confusing to them to have to deal with the fact that they could be shut down for no apparent reason, so that would be my answer. there is a psychological effect on them. host: a shutdown is about a lot of things. one of the issues is about the size of the federal government. do you think the federal government is too big right now? guest: not at all. i think the federal government is understaffed. they need to consider how to staff the federal government so the american people can receive the services it deserves. host: what is an example of the federal government being understaffed? guest: i am thinking particularly about the social security administration now. they are very much understaffed.

a lot of times, claims are not processed adequately because they are not staffed adequately. host: everett kelley is the national president of the american federation of government employees. he is with us until the top of the hour. if you want to join the conversation, phone lines are open. democrats, it is (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. then a special line for federal workers, keeping that line open in this segment, (202) 748-8003. start calling in now. back to federal workers, if -- whether you are an essential employee or furloughed, you would not be receiving a paycheck, but you could expect to receive back pay after the government reopens. is that correct? guest: you would receive back

pay eventually. i do not know if employees will ever be made whole in the event that a shutdown occurs because number one, as i have said, federal employees are no different than the rest of america. 60% of americans live from paycheck-to-paycheck and the people i represent are no different. missing one paycheck sets you back. you have to figure out how to feed your family, how to even get to work because the cost to go back to fort -- back and forth to work. then went backpay finally arrives, it is one lump sum that puts you in a different tax bracket. host: what would you say to folks who question why somebody would not be working during a shutdown -- why should they get backpay? guest: because ultimately they

are being locked out of a job, not because they do not want to go to work but they have been locked out of their job. i encourage congress to look at what happened with the senate. they gave congress a way out and i think that is what we should be asking congress to do, to make sure they do not yet locked out of a job. host: we talked about that in the first segment of the washington journal, about the short-term funding bill to keep the federal government open, a bipartisan measure yesterday. we are talking with everett kelley this morning. we have the special line for federal ploy use. michael is on that line out of maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? i wanted to bring some light to the shutdown, a part that i did

not know affected us. both of my kids go to daycare on two bases that are close by. if the government shutdown, we still have to pay for the childcare, but the kids are home with us because on the base everybody is furloughed. i do not know if other people are experiencing that, people who send kids to federal day cares and still have to pay for that. it is about $900 for our daughter and about $1500 for my son. host: mr. kelley? guest: that is the point. thank you for calling. the point is that so many areas are affected by the shutdown that the average person is not aware of. thank you for bringing that to the attention of the american public.

they will be affected in so many ways. host: in washington, d.c., this is mary come alive for democrats. -- mary, live for to mcgrath's. -- democrats. caller: i am a retired federal worker. i know that social security will not be impacted, but will retired federal workers -- will be get paid? guest: you will get a paycheck as a retiree. that is not going to be an issue. social security itself will be affected. the workforce will be affected, but you will get paid. if that is an issue with your paycheck, i do not know how you would address that. that is something we have to be concerned about, or if there is a new claim in social security

that is something we need to be concerned about. host: social security checks would still go out. it is just that processing new claims, and that happens every day, that would not happen during a shutdown. jack is next out of wisconsin, republican. caller: my question was on backpay. federal employees take-home money at a given time. guest: they get paid at some point, but in the process of recouping from loans or what have you because they did not get paid on time -- just imagine. this is what i ask everybody to do. imagine payday shows up. it comes around and you expect a paycheck but you do not get the

paycheck. you still have bills. you still have child care. you still have all these things. getting paid at some point does not make a person home. a -- hole. a person living from paycheck-to-paycheck and all of a sudden you get paid maybe three weeks, maybe -- i do not know how long it will last. whatever it is, you get paid a lump sum that pushes you into a different tax bracket. federal employees would never be made whole in a situation like that. caller: instead of doing the lump sum, can they give you three paychecks or a week or a few days? guest: but that is not the process. it would be nice, but that is not the process. caller: the federal government makes the process. so why don't they make the process where it is fair to the people that are not working? guest: if we could get congress

to do things that simple, we would be doing a mighty good job. that is what i'm asking them to do. do something good for the people not working. host: federal employee line, this is david, pensacola, florida. caller: i am retired. i was with the u.s. to part and of justice. host: what is your question or comment for mr. kelley? caller: i'm not going to engage in ad hominem attacks but i want to say this man is an embarrassment to all federal employees. i want to apologize to the american taxpayer who is required to save up for a rainy day. when i came in, i was considered an essential worker. if the government shut down, i was still required to work. government employees are very well compensated. this man makes it sound like they are basically in a form of slavery and that is not true. the one thing i want to point out -- he talks about being made hole.

every time the government shut down, it is not shut down for six months to a year. federal employees are well compensated. if they know how to save like the private sector is required to, they should have money. if you are being pushed into a different tax bracket, you are obviously being compensated well enough. poor people do not have to worry about tax brackets. another thing, and i called about this a long time ago, during the last government shutdown it was on c-span. this was a congressman giving and anecdotal evidence about not an airline worker, air traffic control. he said on the floor of congress that this guy had to sell blood to make enough gas money to get to his job. is that someone you think is competent enough to handle air traffic? i do not think so but i want to

apologize to the american people. >> thank you for your comment. however, i think there is a lot of misguided people in the world that do not understand that people are people. everybody is not the same. it has nothing to do with slavery. it has to do with a person's responsibility. people do not realize the last shutdown, this economy was hit with about $11 billion. when you do not have $5 billion a week going out into the economy, it affects everyone. i'm sorry you feel that way, but it is your opinion and right to have that opinion. i just think those are misguided thoughts. host: just about 10 minutes left with everett kelley. (202) 748-8000 for democrats to

call in. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, it is (202) 748-8002. if you are a federal employee, (202) 748-8003 a non-shutdown related question, although a shutdown in the form of an auto worker strike. i want to get your thoughts on president biden's joining those united autoworkers on the picket line yesterday and what is being called an unprecedented visit by a president. guest: i think that was money mental. i applaud the president for making such a statement, that he stands with america's workforce. i think that it has a lot of bearing on where it workforce would go moving forward. i think it will encourage people to understand the necessity of being part of the labor force. and to have a union to represent

you to ensure you are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect on the job. host: i want to hear your opinion about the column in usa today. biden scrambling to out union trump, saying it was days before biden announced his trip to the picket line that former president trump said he was going to detroit to talk to some of the same union members making that trip and skipping that second republican debate to make that trip. guest: i did not quite understand your question. host: in terms of out-unioning trump, who is more prounion, joe biden or donald trump? guest: trump did not do anything to assist unions, in my opinion. bar none, this president has been a tremendous help and assistance to unions.

under the trump administration, he put forth some executive orders that took away powers of unions, especially my union. the first day on the job, this president revoked those executive orders and gave us powers organize and to represent our members. this was taken away by the former president. host: back to the line for federal workers, this is clayton. caller: the marian v.a. -- i am one of the lowest paid employees here. i cannot exactly save money like he expects us to.

reagan did make it so we cannot go on strike, but we could go on strike we could prevent the whole government shut down because the government would be afraid of us again. is there a reason why our union has never done anything to get us to be able to strike again? guest: thank you for your comments. i appreciate you on the work you do every day. a lot people do not realize that as a federal employee you are not paid a bunch of money. some of our people make about $34,000 a year on average. imagine living in a metropolitan city where you have to pay for transit to get back and forth to work and then housing, daycare. it becomes important to save money. i agree with you and i appreciate you. i appreciate what you do every day. i will continue to stand here and rep you. as you know, we take an oath as

a federal employee and we know we cannot strike and we do not even talk strike. we try to make sure we get benefits that are been -- our members need through congress. that is what we are doing here today. we are calling on congress to do the right thing. take a look at what the senate did in a bipartisan way. they came up with a way to keep the government open through november 17. i think congress should look at ways to do that and also keep federal employees off the chopping block every year. that is the issue here. the issue is federal employees should not be used as political ponds and put in this political theater because they want to do their job. it is not that we do not want to do it. it is not that we want to work without getting paid and create other issues. that is not the issue. the issue is should federal

employees be allowed to go to their job and do their job for the american people because it is what the american people need and deserve? host: when you say we cannot strike, is that union bylaw? is that a federal law? is that something you believe federal employees should not do? guest: it is a federal law and we will abide by that. we will not even talk about striking. we do expect congress to do their job. host: george in washington, you are on. caller: you are right about them not being made whole. anybody is going to have to pay interest to make ends meet well they are not being paid. guest: thank you and i appreciate your comments. we will continue to try and get the congress understand that

issue. host: could federal employees apply for unemployment benefits while they are furloughed, if they are furloughed in a shutdown? what happens to the benefits once they are made whole? guest: i do not think we will be able to apply for those, no. host: to new jersey, this is sharon, and independent. caller: we bring in $5 trillion a year. we spent a $7 trillion a year. the last administration gave a permanent tax cut of $2 trillion a year to the american oligarch billionaires. now politicians get paid off because we do not hear what is going on. the american billionaires do not have to pay their fair share and they hurt our country doing it and they do not care about the

working force. i believe they should stand up. last time we had a zero balance and budget deficit, they paid 35%. now they are paying zero. that is not fair. they should pay their fair share and the american people should stop being punched in the face by these american billionaires who do whatever they want to do by hurting the american people. that is all i have to say. if i am wrong, stand up and say i am wrong, but i am not wrong. guest: i think i can totally agree with that sister. host: another federal employee. caller: i am a retired postal worker. i think you got the wrong person here today.

the federal employees will get compensated. whoever does not have any extra funds has bigger problems than the shutdown. i would be required to work, and that is fine. the hurting of the economy -- you should have the person who works at the federal building or the restaurants who do not get people to come, those are the people who are going to be hurt. those people are not going to be compensated. so you got the wrong person here. whoever does not have any extra savings, they got more problems. they got to look at themselves and try to save some money for rainy days and generally -- any federal employee could save -- save something. guest: i appreciate the sentiments from the brother. however, i think again the point is being missed. these employees are not saying i do not want to go to work.

they have been told we will not allow you to go to work and you will not get paid. that is the issue people need to understand. host: tonya has been waiting out of seattle. line for republicans. caller: your guest has stated about the employees not refusing to go into workplace, the government workplace. i want to ask him, why is it that the government is not allowing i.c.e. to do their job done on the border? i want to say i encourage the government shutdown. shut the shindig down. shut the party down. shut the party with his wild spending out of control, the taxpayer dollars that are -- social security is not going to the american people.

we are getting some of the dollars, but social security offices -- there are foreign nationals that is on the bus for receiving social security. i am frankly with the -- host: we are running short on time and i want to give mr. kelley a chance to respond. guest: thank you for your comments. again, i think you are incorrect. i.c.e., they are doing their job on the border. now there will be more people and agencies affected than just social security. you have veterans that go to war and they give their lives and come back and we are in a shutdown and they cannot be serviced. that is not right.

veterans do not deserve that. i'm a veteran myself and i expect if i go to the process of claims because i have disability or what have you, that the veterans administration should be there and prepared to take care of me. you are talking about food safety, air quality all these types of things that will be food safety, all these things that will be affected in the event of a shutdown. we expect america to be the best country in the world. you do not do is i'm not funding your government. -- you do not do that by not funding your government. host: we appreciate the time. thanks so much. coming up in a half hour, we will be joined by republican member of congress, anthony d esposito.

he is joining us ahead of the funding deadline. but for the next 30 minutes my back to your calls on a potential government shutdown. democrats, republicans, independents, and we have a special line for government workers. that number is 202-748-8003. we will get to your calls right after the break. ♪ ♪ announcer: sunday on in-depth, author douglas rushkoff talks and takes because about the digital revolution, humana donna me, and more. his books include "throwing rocks at the google bus," and "survival of the richest," which

details plans of billionaires to survive after a catastrophic event on earth. join the conversation with your phone calls and facebook comments. in-depth, live on sunday at noon eastern on c-span2. announcer: since 1979, in partnership with cable providers, c-span has provided coverage of congress, from congressional hearings to briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are decided, with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government.

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a.m. eastern. we will bring you gavel-to-gavel coverage on c-span or c-span2. also on c-span3, michael reagan will testify in the rulemaking process for science and technology. and of course you can watch on the free c-span now video app. a reminder of what is happening around the country today. tonight at 8:00 p.m., president trump or former president trump will hold a rally with autoworkers, the striking autoworkers, just outside of detroit. at that will be on c-span2, c-span.org and the free video app. before that, the second republican debate will be taking place at the reagan library at

9:00 p.m. eastern tonight in california. plenty of headlines about the debate. the gop field looks to chip away at gop candidates in the second primary debate. two fox news anchors will be hosting that debate on foxbusiness network. univision will also be showing that debate. that is happening in the world of politics. and we are trying to keep you on top of all of it. but now we are returning to the question of the government shut down. we are less than 100 hours away at this point. we are asking for your thoughts as congress continues to try to find a path forward. special phone lines for federal workers, 202-748-8003 is the number if you are a government employee. steve is on that line out of columbus, ohio. what is on your mind?

what is your message to congress? caller: i am a retired federal employee. i used to be represented, but then jimmy carter signed an order about being represented by a union. anybody who thinks federal employees are well-paid is wrong. other educated people, compared to them they are under compensated. host: steve in ohio there. this is mike out of las vegas on the line fred democrats. -- for democrats. caller: to use the shutdown as a pawn or bargaining chip that the republican party is doing is so unacceptable. it just shows how broken our government is, to allow

something so drastic to happen. and it comes up every so often. and it is just terrible. host: mike, when was the last time the government was not broken or functioning properly? caller: it has been many years. but the fact taxes are not being collected the way that they should. you got the republicans talking about all the money the democrats are spending. but that money is for the infrastructure bills. this and that. for the money that they are spending on america. how could that be a bad thing? host: this is jamie out of garden city, missouri, a republican. good morning. caller: your previous caller is absolutely wrong.

their reason for that shutdown is for the $300 million they want to put into ukraine. and we are in a recession. that takes away from our veterans and homeless, it is terrible. i know we also had 200,000 illegals flown in a carrier. that is going to cost us as well. and i know in washington that the federal buildings are empty. i do not know if people are working from home or what, but it is a ghost town. i agree the american people should not be held hostage because the government is not doing their job, but these are the reasons. the infrastructure thing, it is not happening. we are giving ukraine money. they need to negotiate and we need to see where that money is going. we are paying for it. my grandchildren will be paying for it. it needs to be put in a separate pile. and let's see where the money is

going before we give them one more penny. i am a military mother and it is not fair to the vets. host: i will break down the money for ukraine. that money included in a senate proposal sent over yesterday through the house. a short-term bill to avoid a government shutdown. here is what would be in that legislation. it allocated to four $9 billion -- $4.9 billion in aid to ukraine, and other money that would be available until 2025. the white house requested that after more than $20 billion for funding. so that level below the white house request, but still around

$6 billion in the senate short-term bill. the senators are at least pushing for that right now. george out of louisville, kentucky. a democrat. caller: good morning, john. first of all, i really believe this -- that the republican crie s about reckless spending is a bunch of grandstanding. it is about as sincere as a halloween costume. they are only concerned about debt and deficits when a democrat is in office, but when it is a republican they do not care. you can trace it from ronald reagan on. other than that, there are three parties or groups that are basically largely there. you have the enumerated powers that believe anything outside of these powers are unconstitutional.

you have the lies a fair libertarian's who believe in completely unrolled capitalism is the holy grail of goodness and there should be no public spending on anything and no regulation of corporations. and you have the religious right that believes the free market is god manifested in humans and produces its will for the good of all and rewards the good and punishes the last deserving -- less deserving. and they are not going to let it go. and that is the mentality where we are right now. thanks you for taking my call. host: richard from north carolina, an independent. caller: good morning. i want to reply to the lady who was talking about the spending in ukraine. some people do not understand we cannot allow a communist country by forced to take over a democratic country.

if russia takes over ukraine, the whole world is going to pot. but what i wanted to call about, i am tired of the government being shut down and congress not making their deadlines. i think we should say, if this happens and then congress does not get paid. they do not get back pay. i'm tired of congress taking a spring break, plus a vacation, for all of august and a week in september. every time we have one day off they take two weeks off. they should be working monday through friday, five days a week. and they should not get back pay. we are their bosses, but we let them run us over. it is time to stand up and start putting some rules on congress. host: richard, as michelle single terry points out in her column, it is not like members of congress would get back pay. the members of congress and the

president still get their paychecks during the shutdown. her column on what employees should know on pay and benefits during a shutdown. this is marty out of new york, and independent. good morning. caller: good morning. am i on? host: yes. caller: great. i want to address this. both parties are the problem, the duality is the problem. both parties are guilty. they are equally as guilty. the only group i see that is concerned about the debt is the freedom caucus, the republican group holding this up. the problem of the debt, which right now is $33 billion, it's so huge i do not think people grasp it. it is almost unimaginable for most. if you divided by the number of

citizens, it is about $100,000 a person. but the problem is worse because most people, do not know how many people pay their taxes, but it is a much bigger problem than that. that does not include the 88 $2 billion on our federal reserve balance sheet. we borrowed our way into this problem and we need to pay our way out of it. it's not going to happen by adding another $2 billion of deficit. and it is not likely have money to spend. every dollar needs to go to pay down the debt. that's it. it is such a huge existential problem. if there is a shutdown, i feel bad for people, the individuals that will get hurt, but something needs to happen to address our biggest problem, much bigger than russia or china. nato caused this war, not putin.

it is not even a communist country. whatever, that is a whole different subject. we cannot afford it. host: i can give you the u.s. debt per taxpayer, $255,000 and change per taxpayer. as marty pointed out, you divide the debt by the total number of citizens. the total u.s. national debt is at $33 trillion. and counting. u.s. debt.org is a place to go to look at real-time numbers. we have a few minutes left in this segment, talking about a potential government shutdown. we have a special line for federal employees, 202-748-8003. keep calling. one other story from capitol hill, a front page story of

politico. senate democrats are turning on robert menendez, the democrat from new jersey, even cory booker. party leaders are joining the calls for the incumbent. the dam is breaking. a torrent of calls for's resignation yesterday, led by cory booker. more than a dozen senators joined john fetterman in pushing him to step down, citing the federal conspiracy charges found against him. bob menendez has denied wrongdoing and has stayed silent on whether he will plan to run for reelection next year. here is a short exchange from senator menendez and the congressional press corps as he was making his way to the elevators on capitol hill yesterday. [video clip]

>> will you run for reelection? >> i work for the people of new jersey. >> will you run for reelection? >> why won't you resign? >> because i am innocent. host: that was capitol hill yesterday. back to your phone calls. a caller, a federal employee, from maryland. caller: good morning. i want to make two points. the first is about how rich people do not pay tax. i really hope -- this is one of the biggest misinformations out there. to give a little bit of background. according to the 2020 tax year, the top 1%, who share about 22%

of the total at adjusted gross income, they pay 42% of the total income tax. the top 10%, who share about 50% of the at adjusted gross income, they pay 74% of the total income. so, if some say they're rich do not pay tax, i hope that the biden democrats check their numbers because this is the biggest misinformation. secondly, about the shutdown. i would have put in a new bill, which was debated last week, but i would have taken out the border part. and the ukraine part. and i would simply see who would be against the rest of it. so let me pass that, keep the government going. the other two items i would send them in as individual bills, one by one. if there is somebody who thinks the border is secure, they are

not living in reality. a country without borders is not a country. you have to defend your country. everybody has a different opinion on ukraine. that should be voted on separately. host: denny in silver spring, maryland. peter j peterson foundation, one of those think tank groups we have had representatives from on this program. they have a chart on who is paying taxes, which income groups in america pay taxes, and it is the various kinds of taxes. it's online. they go through estate taxes, corporate taxes, payroll taxes and individual income taxes, breaking it down by the top 1%, the middle quintile, and lois, showing the percentages of -- lowest, showing the percentages

paid of those various groups. you can take a look. a a lot of information on those charts. pjpf.org is where you can look for that. a caller from oxford, alabama. caller: good morning. i want to give credit where credit is due. i wanted to thank everybody for fighting on the front lines for federal employees. host: are you a federal employee? caller: i have several family members who are involved with the federal government. host: what are they telling you about the potential shutdown and what it means for them? caller: they are not happy, they are not happy about it and it is not right. it's not right that people have to go without a paycheck. pay day with out a paycheck is not a good thing for federal employees. host: that was amber in alabama.

in tennessee, maria. this is a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i hope you are ok today. host: go ahead. caller: i got three points. i will try to be quick. first of all, the issue with ukraine. i do not think there is anyone who does not feel some type of, i do not know, sympathy and want to help the people of ukraine, but where is the money going? we do not know how it is being spent. i'm hearing everything from paying people's medical, pensions, buying food. we have got those same problems here, yet the money is going there. i do not know what is true and what isn't. i want to know how it is spent. secondly, the spending here is outrageous. $33 trillion is unimaginable.

so, i agreed that there should be some spending cuts. but they need to be taken individually, not in one group. third -- or secondly, also with the debt and inflation, i just found out my auto insurance went up by 20% in six months. i was told the reason why is because of the cost of getting automobiles repaired. and the increasing number of uninsured drivers having accidents. so, i am being penalized because people either choose to or cannot afford to buy auto insurance. ok? so, all of this is affecting me. thirdly, i worked for a city government years ago. this has not changed. you have budget deadlines you have to meet. you

have to put in the budget request by a certain date. they allow so many months to discuss, so when your fiscal year starts on day one, everything is in place. there's no continuing resolutions. there's not a government shut down. even though i am calling in on a republican line, i have independent tendencies and i am saying this to both parties -- get your act together and do what you are supposed to do. i thank you for allowing me to say that. host: maria in tennessee. five minutes left in this segment, taking your phone calls. we are less than 100 hours away from a potential government shutdown. caller in grand rapids, michigan, a democrat. caller: good morning. i want to say i am against the government shutdown. and, um -- that it is being run

by a small fraction or being pushed by a small faction of republicans on the extreme right, which you have failed to point out. the more mainstream republicans are trying to find a more moderate course. and if i may, you are biased. you covered senator menendez, but yesterday trump was found guilty in a court. and you guys have not even touched on that. every time a republican calls in, you probe for mo to get themre -- more to get them to slander democrats more. that is what you do. and peterson, that is a right wing foundation. when are you guys going to start being fair and covering the

criminality of donald trump and his family? host: that was the caller from michigan. there are plenty of times we have talked about donald trump on our program. keep watching. just trying to give you a forum here to voice your thoughts. we are focused right now on this potential government shutdown. this is the biggest story on capitol hill this week. what congress is going to do when it comes to funding the government by midnight on saturday. skip in kansas city, missouri. an independent. caller: a lot of people are not going to like what i say, but i think the threat of the government shutdown, it involves 168 members with religious zealots, who hate america, like

the evangelicals of that are not the members of congress. in 2016, there were only 13% members of congress thats and now -- that were evangelicals, and now it is 38%. thank you. host: are you a religious person? do you have much time for religion in your life? i think we lost him. karen in arkansas. a republican. caller: what i would say is the reason we are in debt is because of congress. but i will not -- i will say this, take out 10% on everybody and quit making the loopholes, which congress passed the loophole. i never was able to work. but i was able -- work for a poor person.

but i was able to work for a rich person. it is congress's fault we are in this problem. if biden gave ukraine dollars, what did they do with that? i am sorry that they are in that shape. but we will be in that sheep because we are not doing what we should. host: nikia, las vegas, an independent. caller: how are you? host: doing well. caller: i think both parties are guilty for the spending and for the situation we are in. i feel like the border needs to be closed. i think we should not give any more money to ukraine. aoc was on cnn yesterday and said that migrants are illegal. they are getting -- legal. they are getting food, housing and will be able to work. she said these things proudly. while americans are suffering.

we have high inflation, which is ridiculous. i was at walmart getting a nasal spray that i used to pay $1.79, now it is three dollars higher in two and a half years. i think the government, they should get a pay cut. we should not spend any more money anywhere. everything that is not necessary should be stopped. and that is it, that is all i have to say. host: elsie from gadsden, alabama, a republican. caller: yes, i think that we should cut out a lot of the foreign aid to everybody. we cannot continue to support an open border. something has got to be done. host: that was elsie in alabama. you will likely hear more about border issues from donald trump,

who is set to appear with the united auto workers, a rally in detroit. c-span will be covering that rally. you can watch it tonight at 8:00 p.m. on c-span2. this is donald trump -- what the previous caller was referring to. a state judge found donald trump liable for fraud for inflating his net worth in order to deceive ensure -- insurers. the attorney general's office has submitted evidence and that the former president and his codefendant overvalued assets up to $2.2 billion from 2014 until 2021. the judge wrote, "ev in thee world of high finance this court could endorse the propositionn b y the misstatement of $812

million, that it is immaterial." this is on the front page of several papers. that will do it. this section of the washington journal. 30 minutes until the house comes in. in that time we will be joined by freshman congressman anthony d is busy to of new york. we will talk about the path ahead on capitol hill. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ announcer: on monday, watch they c-span series, in partnership with the library of congress, books that saved america. we'll feature journals from lewis and clark. president thomas jefferson commissioned lewis to explore the west all the way to the pacific ocean. and kyu cho's william clark to

lead the mission, which covered nearly 8000 miles from 1804-1806. they kept detailed journals throughout the trip on plants and animal life, native peoples in potential trade routes. the author of several books on the lewis and clark exhibition and a veteran of the trail, will join us to discuss the exposition -- exhibition. watch on monday, live at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. be sure to scan the qr code it to listen to our companion podcast, where you can learn more about the authors that we feature. ♪ announcer: c-span's student camera documentary competition is celebrating 20 years. this year theme's, looking forward while considering the

past. we are asking students to create a five or six minute video addressing one of these questions. in the next 20 years, what is the most important change you want to see in america? or over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in america? we are giving away $100,000 in total prizes with a grand prize at $5,000. and every teacher that has students participate in the competition has the opportunity to share an additional $50,000. thdeadline is friday, january 19, 2024. for information, visit our website at studentcam.org. announcer: washington journal continues. host: we welcome now for the first time freshman republican congressman anthony d'esposito, who represents new york's fourth district. good morning. guest: good morning. host: less than four days until a potential government shutdown, what is the path forward now? guest: for me and a lot of

others i have been speaking to, i think what we need to focus on is that most republicans have the same mission, to cut the outrageous spending, to take a chunk out of the debt, and brain in th -- rein in the checkbook writing of biden and his administration. we have different ways to get to that result and that is what we are working through now. that is what the party and leadership is doing, giving us the resources we need to find a path forward. we spent last week, and the weekend, continuing conversations and having people in the room for different -- from different parts of the country. and it really gave us the opportunity to have a conversation with people we probably would not normally have. and i think that those conversations yielded positive

results. i'm not sure what will get us to the finish line, but for someone like me, who represents the southwest corner of long island, i am ready to explore every option possible to make sure we do not shut the government down. host: does that include an option that would have a deal with democratic lawmakers? guest: i think at this point i am committed to saying every option is on the table. we had a meeting on friday in my office with biden district republicans, who are very set on making sure that this country and our government does not shut down. we will explore every option. we have had conversations with leadership, with colleagues, and it is very important to us. the country cannot afford to be shut down. we will do everything we can to make sure it does not happen. host: what is your message to your colleagues in the republican conference that have

a different opinion of a shutdown in terms of whether we should or should not be shut down, whether it would accomplish that goal that you stated, that you have of cutting spending? guest: i do not think shutting down the government accomplishes anything. one thing we need to focus on is shutting down the government is one thing, opening it backup is probably even harder. we need to take into consideration the issues at hand and we need to come together as a party. we need to understand we all represent different parts of this country, that is the message that i have understood over the last couple weeks. as much as you want to get frustrated, and i have been frustrated -- you walk out and you are shaking your head, wondering why we are heading in this direction. but what i also realize is while a may not -- i may not agree with some colleagues, i realize that they represent their districts and the people who

sent them they are to be their voice on capitol hill. so there is respect for that. but i also understand, like i said, we cannot afford to shut the government down. it cannot be the only path forward. that is why i am committed in exploring every option on my end to avoid that. host: what did you make of the senate proposal that they sent over to keep the government funded for a few more weeks, specifically the funding for ukraine? guest: i have always said that while i am supportive of funding for ukraine, i think that at all costs we need to make sure that we keep russia at bay, but i also believe we need checks and balances. we cannot keep writing checks to foreign countries and not know where the money is being spent or what it is being spent on. so, you know, i think that that is important, an important part

of the solution and is something that i have talked about. and the conversations throughout the negotiations. i'm ok with sending money to ukraine, but we need to know where the money is being spent. host: what will make you feel better about sending that money? guest: there's rumors that we are spending money on health care, food, that we are spending money on education -- you name it, i have heard of the rumors. and i think that we need a precise list of where the funding is being spent and how it is being allocated. host: congressman anthony d'esposito is our guest for the next 25 minutes. the house will come in at 9:00 p.m. eastern -- at 9:00 a.m. eastern. until then, you can call 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans.

independents, 202-748-8002. as folks are calling in, this is your first time on the washington journal. what should people know about the fourth district of new york? and what should they know about what you did before this job? guest: i will start with the second question. born and raised in island park on the south shore of long island, between the city of long beach and ocean side. it is a beautiful community. i was born and raised there. i went to public school there. then i went to an all boys catholic school for high school. from there, graduated university and i joined the police department. i retired as a detective with close to 700 arrests. i had a great career. i followed homicide shootings, gangs. as some of you may know, much of

long island is represented and protected by the volunteer fire service. and i have been a member of the volunteer fire service since i was 18. i started as chief of the department there from 2009-2016. i was the commander during hurricane sandy, so i have seen some of the worst that the south shore has seen. in 2016, i joined the ranks of the board, which has seen some -- some of the board have made it to capitol hill. peter king was a member of the board. the hempstead town board. it is the largest town in the united states of america. i got to serve their 2016 until 2023. and then obviously, in 2020 ran for congress, was elected in a district that has been represented by democrats for the last 25 years. we flipped the seed by four

points. the seat that joe biden won by double digits in 2020. we are confident we will keep this seat in republican hands. it's a diverse district, it runs from the barrier islands, like long beach, point lookout, all the way to garden city. from the city line where ubs arena is all, the way out to seaford. it's diverse. and we have probably one of the largest jewish populations in the country in my district. a lot of them in the southwest corner. we also have the rock center diocese. so, a community that i believe is well represented in the work i do. i've always said as a young police officer, one of my first nights on patrol, it was a summer evening in brooklyn and i

had the windows up in the car. a veteran cop asked why the windows were up, and ice said it was hot out, i was listening to the radio with the air conditioning on. he said as long as you are on this job, you always have the windows dow son you can hear and smell and see the streets. i have tried to bring about the government politics. i believe that that process is one of the reasons as total why we were so successful in getting this seat, because people back home, republicans, democrats or independents they realize and they have a voice, -- or independents, they realize they have a voice that is always listening to the streets, so he can be the best representative he can be for them back home. host: great to chat with you. this is brian out of west union,

ohio on the republican line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm curious, as we are talking about the government shutdown and talking about why or how they can stop -- how they can push the money through for the next couple weeks. why is there no, they have never agreed on any oversight of the spending going to ukraine? why didn't the senate vote against it? look at the districts in california, democratic districts. i mean, they have the snap crack app. you look at it, the homeless, the feces everywhere on every street corner everywhere. and nobody is doing anything about oversight. oversight is what we need, not only in ukraine funding, but the house turns down every single thing that the house tries to pass for oversight.

if you do not see a problem with that, and they want to know what or where the money went, then we have a serious problem in the senate. guest: listen, i do not disagree. that was my point i made in the opening segment. that ukraine is only one example of why we need oversight and we need to have a good understanding of where these hard earned dollars are being spent, whether it is ukraine, money we send out of the country that -- where it is being utilized to promote certain agendas. i agree. oversight is important. and i think that it is something that is important to many of my colleagues. that's one of the reasons why we are pushing to have a good understanding of where the money is being spent. this is not just unique to ukraine and foreign aid.

this is something we are looking at in all aspects. take it on a smaller scale, but i was honored to be given a gavel and serve as chairman of the subcommittee on homeland security and emergency management, and one of the focuses has been the oversight o f fema, where dollars are going and the extent of the huge cities making sure it is trickling down to the smaller agencies who need it just as much, if not more. i agree with the caller, oversight is important to many of us. and it may not be the front page news that everybody is reporting, be confident that colleagues, my colleagues on -- in congress are working hard towards oversight in many respects. host: to the west coast, kay in roseville, california. caller: good morning.

a first time caller, independent voter. i have a question and comment. i have to just make a comment about the previous caller. i take offense to that about california, we do not have feces on every corner. we have done a lot for the homeless and it is really making a difference. i'm in mcclintock's district my which i did not vote for him, but now i have a question for the freshman representative. and i want to know whether or not he feels it is ever acceptable for kevin mccarthy to flat out refuse to bring a vote to the floor that was a resolution that was passed by an

overwhelming majority of 78 senators in the senate, to even vote on this resolution. i mean, i am a government worker, i have been for 30 years, and i know that the shutdown will hurt not only government workers, but the entire country. and i feel like many republicans dismiss the majority of voters and seem to enjoy hurting americans with the continued gridlock that we have been disgusted by for decades. host: i think we have your point. guest: i disagree, i do not think that many republicans like gridlock or are ignoring voters. i'll speak for myself, i made it clear that one of the most important things of being in an

elected office is making sure that i have boots on the ground. tonight, in the midst of this potential shutdown, i will be doing a town hall on capitol hill for the hundreds of thousands of residents back home in the fourth congressional district of new york. speaking to the resolution, i am not sure if you are being specific to the government shutdown, but i think what is important is speaker mccarthy has, i believe, shown tremendous leadership, just becoming the speaker of the house and over the last couple weeks. he has really shown that he is giving the ability to the members of congress -- we had a conference last week, multiple conferences, where nearly every member of the republican congress was in a room. and speaker mccarthy said, tell me what we need to do to move the country forward.

i will give you the resources you need. you have time, you have staff, you have everything and anything you could possibly need to get your ducks in a row, to come to some sort of agreement, so let's move the country forward. i have to disagree with the fact that republicans are looking for gridlock. and i disagree with the fact that we are looking to ignore voters. i truly believe that we are in this situation because representatives are actually listening to voters back at home. whether you are a democrat or republican, districts throughout the country are very different. there's democrats that run in districts that are super moderate and they are going to govern differently from a district that is very far to the left. the same thing with republicans. at the end of the day, while there is a small group that

could handle this situation better, i believe we are doing our best to represent the districts. host: we have 10 minutes left with the congressman. a republican from new york. a couple folks on twitter have asked a version of this question. "have you asked congressman george santos to resign? democrats have asked bob menendez to resign. where are you on door santos?" guest: i will tell whoever the posted the twitter post. you can google my statements on george santos. they are linked feet and they go back to the beginning of the year. i believe i was the first member of the house of representatives to call for his resignation. remember that i border the district that george santos represents, or sort of represents, the third congressional district. i'm to the south of that, new

york's fourth congressional district. not only did i call for his resignation, one of the first to do so, i also have legislation pending, a fraud act that would make sure somebody like george santos does not have the ability to earn money after he leaves congress, based on the lies he told. for example, he cannot sell his story to a tv movie or go on "dancing with the stars" or make a netflix series based on the lies he told the american people. when there was legislation on the floor to expel george santos, i was at the forefront saying that george santos should be expelled from congress. what many people do not know is in order to expel a member of the house of representatives,

you need two thirds of the house to vote on that. when the legislation or resolution was being whipped, we had the understanding we do not have two thirds vote. so i called for the issue to immediately be sent to ethics. if you look back at the remarks i gave, i was pretty scathing towards george santos. he is a liar and a fraud. he does not represent the people of his district correctly. and as is somebody who came from the national county republican committee, he does not represent the national republicans either. i have been at the forefront calling for him -- not only his resignation, but expulsion. and have legislation in place to make sure he does not gain financially for his future. host: i read a story, is it true that some constituents in's district are calling your office

for constituent services because they choose not to even work with george santos? guest: from probably day one, since the story unfolded, and obviously since his indictment, there are many elected officials who get calls for issues that are federally related who, do not want to deal with his office. or call his office and do not get a response. so we have helped them. there have been dozens of dozens of constituents of the third congressional district who have called our office and our district staff, as well as staff here, have helped anyone that they could. host: the house coming in in about 10 minutes. we will get as many calls as we can until they gavel in. lewis in new jersey, an independent. caller: hey. congressman, way to make a new

for yourself. you talked about the oversight committee, find out what happened to the 2000 kids in hawaii missing in the fires. start an investigation, why the cops are turning them back into the fire, shutting down the roads. who cares about door santos? do something good. host: natural disasters, the hawaii fires? guest: i appreciate the call. obviously from the tweets and calls, there are some people who care about door santos, but i do not think many individuals care about natural disasters more than i am. like i mentioned, i have spent my lifetime in the public safety world, was a volunteer firefighter and commander of hurricane sandy back in our

community. i now serve as the chairman of emergency management and technology in homeland security which has the oversight and overseas fema. so, we have without a doubt been focused on natural disasters. the subcommittee has hearings and that are set up that -- in regards to our response and outreach with natural disasters. we talk about fema, how they will continue to make sure that they can provide and live out their mission, while their commission expands to things like humanitarian aid on the southern border. so, while i take or respect the caller's comments, there is a a lot of work being done and eye with the filling get in touch with committee staff to see what we have focused on the hawaii fires. host: several thousand people missing in the fire, but i think

the official number is down to 31 individuals, according to the police department and officials there. fact check.org, a check on where that number stands. guest: i think that thousands were a preliminary number when communication was still poor. host: dimitri in california, good morning. caller: good morning. i was born in california 75 years ago. and, when it was a wonderful place. and it is not anymore. ok? i own my own business. i have worked for ibm and otis elevator. life was pretty good. i lived my life li the traditionalke -- like the traditional enterprise system.

sadly, people twist words. that's what they do on your show. people use twisted logic to come up with a resolution. i'm a college grad and i know about -- you could have somebody come on your show and talk and i can tell you who they are representing, who is paying them. host: we are running short on time, what is your question? caller: my question is to keep fighting the fight. and the democratic party has now turned into the condemnation party. and think about the words, how that is put together. and right now, we are already in the biggest recession in our lives. you can pick whatever words you

want. that is what you do for a living. god bless you all. america is coming back. but i can say negative things, but i do not want to. god bless you. hopefully you will bring us back to the way we were. guest: thank you. you have my word i will keep fighting the good fight. host: we will try to get in one or two more calls as the house comes in. this is david from brandywine, maryland. a democrat. caller: i want to ask my question first. i would like to know, as a republican, you talked about oversight, where -- what about the money given to the pentagon,

and what do you think about it not being itemized? there's a committee -- and accountability. guest: i am not opposed to any oversight, as long as it does not interfere with national security, with investigations, or with -- in this situation -- i think oversight is needed. has been the common theme of our conversation this morning. host: is that one of the committees you wanted to work on on capitol hill? guest: when i got here, i asked for transportation infrastructure, homeland security. i was able to get a seat on both. thankfully, because of my career with the nypd, and the fact that

i was overseas, i was also asked to serve on the house -- w has which has been a great opportunity. host: how long do plan on being on capitol hill? guest: as long as i can properly represent the good people of the fourth district, and for as long as they want me here. host: what we dot see would be something you need to do to have a successful freshman term? guest: keep working on the things that is important to the people of the fourth district. what matters is quality of life, with inflation, crime and now the migrant issue. those are the issues i am focused on and at the things that are talked about around the dinner table in communities where i live. near hempstead, those towns, those of the people that sent me here and i will keep fighting to make sure i am there voice,

regardless of the party they are from. host: anthony d'esposito, freshman lawmaker. come back again. that will do it for us this morning. a reminder that the house is coming in now. we will be back here tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. now live coverage of the floor of the house of representatives. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by chaplain kibben. chaplain kibben: would you pray with me. merciful god, how hard it is in these days of contest and contention not to keep score. both outside and inside these chambers, we are hardwired to tally wins and losses. but while this may be the nature of things, forgive us when we gloat over our enemy's loss when we find ourselves selfishly satisfied when our opponent stumbles. all around us there are countless situations where we find ourselves s