host: this is the "washington journal" for november 12. in the last few days, president-elect trump has named his choices for key roles in his administration, including positions that will influence

future policy in immigration, homeland security, national security, and foreign policy. we'll show you the latest choices from the president-elect. you can comment on these choices and what you think it says about the future trump administration. here's how you can let us know so far how you want to grade president trump's team so far. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. if you want to post your grade and your thoughts on the president-elect choices and give us that in text, 202-748-8003 is how you do that. post on facebook.com/cspan. and you can also post on x, @cspanwj. politico has a roundup of the latest choices from president-elect trump and future choices that will determine his team going forward. they write that the incoming

president on monday tapped three of its staunches current and former congressional allies for key roles. elise stefanik as the next u.s. ambassador. lee zeldin to lead the environmental protection agency. the fourth, senator marco rubio, expected to be nominated as the secretary of state. this is also bringing immigration hardliner stephen miller and thomas homan back to the white house in key policy roles. the story adding the move signals the extent to which the incoming president will both prioritize loyalty in his second administration and seek to leverage it across all the branches of government to carry out his most ambitious and controversial plan. again, that is politico's take on that. when it comes to the future head of the homeland security department, cnn reporting that it's south dakota governor

kristi noem expects to be nominate. she was previously a south dakota representative will now be tasked with overseeing a sprawling agency that oversees everything from u.s. customs and border protection and immigration and customs enforcement to the federal emergency management agency and the u.s. secret service. she had once been on the president-elect's shortlist for vice president, though her relationship with mr. trump shifted after the negative rollout surrounding the publication of her book "no going back." the truth of what's wrong in politics and how we move forward, in it she revealed she once killed her 14-month-old wirehair pointer cricket when she was not displaying the signs of an ideal hunting dog. when it comes to taking a look at immigration issues, thomas homan is the name that was first coming to the forefront in the last couple of days.

"wall street journal" writes about it, saying as the acting ice director, he scrapped an obama administration policy, later readopted by the biden administration that directed officers to focus on arresting immigrants in the country legally with serious criminal histories. under his watch, ice ramped up its raids on meat packing plant and other places where spanish speaking immigrants were known to gather. he joined what was then called the immigration and naturalization service in the 1980's and spent decades working as a government employee in various roles, including a border patrol agent, the idea of separating migrant families as a deterrent measure during the obama administration, when a surge of families started crossing illegally in 2014. when trump became president on a pilot program started in 2017 before it was expanded border wide. those are some of those names emerging in the last couple of days when it comes to the president-elect's team.

if you want to comment on these names and other names you've heard about the choices for the president's team, call us, 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. if you want to text us, 202-748-8003. you can text us thoughts and post on facebook and x as well. mr. homan, after the news of his future role in the administration, was on the fox news network talking about immigration policy, what he sees as his role in it. here's a portion of that interview. >> first of all, costs of deportation, president trump's plan is going to be a cost savings to the american people. this administration is paying for free airline tickets all over the country, free hotel rooms at $500 a night, free education, free medical care, and that's in perpetuity. what president trump's plan going to do is soviet taxpayers

money. they're paying $500 a night for hotel room in new york city. meanwhile, there's empty ice beds at $127 a night. so president trump's plan to save taxpayers money over time. as far as remain in mexico program, i worked for six presidents. every president i've worked for took steps to try to secure the border no. one did it more impressive than trump. his success was unprecedented. when he came up with the remain in mexico program, that was an outstanding idea, because that stopped people from coming. people can still claim asylum, but they're going to wait in mexico. once word got out they weren't going to be released, they stopped coming. when they stopped coming, women aren't being rapped by the cartels, children around drowning in the river. cartels aren't making money. president trump's policy not only a game changer, it saved thousands of lives. >> i mean, look, practically speaking, who's going to do it? are you envisioning military troops throughout the country rounding people up? tell me how it's going to be

done in a practical sense. >> first of all, i want to make one thing clear. i read a piece this morning, somebody said tom homan says the military is going to round up and arrest illegal aliens. never said that, never said that in my entire life or career. that was ridiculous i just read this morning. it's going to be a well targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ice. the men and women of ice do this daily. they're good at it. they know what they can and cannot do illegally. when we go up there, we know who we're looking for, and as we've done in a humane manner. i keep reading stories about concentration camps. ice has the highest standards in the industry. so these people will be well taken care of. it will be a humane operation, but it's a necessary mass deportation operation. host: thomas homan is one of the names. you can comment on him and other choices that have been made by the president in the last couple

of days and forthcoming ones as well. again, the phone lines will be on the screen. humans the one that -- choose the one that best represents you. if you called the last 30 days, hold off from doing so. again, your thoughts on the president-elect's team so far. lester in alabama, democrats line starts us off. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: pedro, we looking at trump as he put his cabinet together. every one of these people he's picking is nothing but racist white people. you know, it's sad. sudden the opportunity to seal that border. he didn't do it. now he coming in talking about how he's going to treat these people fairly. trump have never treated anybody fairly. and trust me, america never seen trump. trump, he almost like hitler, and that's a game changer.

host: specifically what are your issues with the choices 10 far that he's made? caller: they're not qualified to hold those positions. betsy devos, we knew four years ago what she did with education. america going to wish they never seen trump again. pedro, have a good day. host: that's lester in alabama. your thoughts on the president's choices so far when it comes to his team. this is josephine in new jersey, independent line. hello. caller: good morning. my concern is for the children. it's going to upset me to no end that there are a lot of children that were born here, and their parents, and the explanation mrs the reporter asked him, well, what happens to the children if their parents have to go back? he said, even though they're american citizens now, well, they'll all have to leave. that's exactly what happened under eisenhower. 60% of the people that were put

out were actually american citizens. i don't want us to look like storm troopers. it's just upsetting to me. what should be done, and he would have the ability to do it, hire judges, judges, judges. people will not come if they know they will be automatically brought in front of a judge within six months and they're out. do it the legal way, but why would you want to do that? let's act like nazis, storm trooper action. thank you. host: that's josephine on our independent line. mark from new jersey, democrats line on the president-elect's team choices so far. mark, go ahead. caller: hi, thanks for c-span. i'm a climate change voter. that's my main issue. we just elected a climate change denier, so i am petrified of what's going to happen. i'm here in new jersey.

i smell smoke everywhere. we haven't had but one rainfall in 42 days. trump just put in lee zeldin for the e.p.a. head. i mean, the guy is into big oil. i can't even express how bad it's going to be with climate change after trump's gone. we all just need to do our best, americans. host: lee zeldin, republican of new york, tapped to head the environmental protection agency. again, it's one of those announcements that has been forthcoming in the last couple of days. some of you posting on these choices when it comes to our facebook page. excellent choices all. i particularly enjoyed giant slayer, elli stefanik -- elise stefan. i wonder how many clowns will fall once she opens her mouth. one person said trump started

his last term wit good people who left disgusted. my guess is he will qukl lose interest in policy anfos instead on gaining absolute power for himself and for creating a submissive government. from frank, on facebook, waiting for the attorney general pick, which is still forthcoming. then another said same old thgs, nothing new to benefit normal protection, no ethics, no morals, three times impeached, multiple indicted convicted felon. give your thoughts on our facebook page at facebook.com/ cspan if you want to tell us what you think about these choices so far when it comes to key positions in the forthcoming trump administration. also post on x as well. @cspanwj. let's hear from michigan, independent line. john, hello. caller: hello, good morning.

these are terrible people. marco rubio, are you kidding me, secretary of state? he used to call him little marco. and trump, he called out marco rubio, he said donating money so he c make rubio his perct puppet. now trump is the puppet of ad ellison money. host: what is it about senator rubio specifically that would make him a bad choice for secretary of state if he's offered that? caller: secretary of state should do diplomacy. marco rubio is a war monger. i thought trump was a peace candidate. nope, he's just bringing in war mongers again. host: john in michigan there. this is from florida, democrats line. caller: hello. host: you're on, go ahead, please.

caller: my name is mecca, like the city. host: you're on, go ahead. you're probably listening to your television. if you could not do that and just go ahead with your thoughts, please, we appreciate it. caller: my thing is i'm just trying to figure out this guy's end game. i don't really think, does it really matter? because we already know what his agenda is. host: what do you mean by that? caller: i mean, what was the agenda the last time here? i don't remember it being positive. i mean, it is the end game. i mean, obama stopped ebola, he couldn't stop covid? host: mecca in florida, giving

her thoughts on choices so far when it comes to the incoming president and his administration. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. make your thoughts known when it comes to immigration policy, that's one of the -- go to the front page of "the washington post," if you go to the lead story, by the way, they reflect the story in the last 24 hours or so about the possibility of senator marco rubio of florida becoming the next secretary of state. again, not officially offered the role, according to positions, at least being reported. but if you also go to the main page under the photo which showed president joe biden and vice president kamala harris laying a wright at the tomb of the unknown as part of veterans day ceremony yesterday, a story about migration and immigration, this is by nick saying migratioy

in place. he said that when he returns to office in january, the president-elect stands to inherent enforcement tools from the biden administration that are even more powerful than the policies at his disposal last time. biden administration officials have implemented emergency border controls this year that essentially ban asylum for migrants who enter unlawfully. trump's remain in mexico policy provided asylum seekers with access, u.s. courts said biden administration's restriction offered no such process, allowing officials to deport migrants and threaten them with criminal prosecution if they return. restrictions have helped slash crossings by 78%. the level is even lower during the president's first term. let's hear from mike in houston, republican line on these choices by president-elect trump so far when it comes to key positions in his administration. mike, go ahead.

caller: yes, i think he'll do a fabulous job. all of them will. host: why do you think that? caller: well, they're all experienced people, especially borman. he was helping him last time on the same problem. and i think rubio will also. host: you mentioned tom h oman and march row rubio. what do you think they bring to the people if they are named to these positions? caller: well, i think homan, he's had a lot of experience doing what he's been doing, and he's an ex-agent. he's very well versed in what they need. also rubio at the same time. host: ok. mike there in houston, texas,

talking about thomas homan, one of the choices when it comes to immigration matters. marco rubio, senator rubio, possibly becoming the next secretary of state, according to reporting. new york, this is white plains, russ, democrats line, hi. caller: hi, pedro. i know tom homan is being portrayed as the bull conner of the 21st century, but he seems like a tough talker that's more interested in deterrent. trump appointed elise stefanik, a radical zionist in the u.n., but this allows trump to lay down the law to israel. it's like when trump said i had pompeo and bolton at the table, and that got the attention of kim jong un and iran's attention. trump rules by indirection, the weave. i really think he's like the walt whitman of politics. he contains multitudes. thanks very much. host: can you expand on that? what do you mean by that? oh, he hung up. let's hear from roger in kansas,

independent line. caller: yeah, thank you for being on. i just hope that this is overregulation in our country, and they've done a terrible job for our country. he just needs to go, banning our teachers from teaching kids what they need to have a good job. they don't teach him how to read or write anymore. if they would just take that hope and give it to the states and let the states do it, our country would be so much better. they just put too many strings and tried to push through things that aren't what we want them to do. they have the same problem in the environment. this is terrible. i mean, i'm all for solar energy

and wind stuff. they have no way right now to make sure they're all the most productive ways. i don't think they've done a test to see if our wind farms are actually making us money or if it's costing us more harm to our environment, because the products they have and what they're doing is hurting us. i'm really looking forward to having the kennedy family help us outs and improve our medical issues. and personally i would hope and pray that trump gets us on medicare. i'm retired on medicare, and we pay over $1,000 a month for medical coverage. i have to take it out of my social security. they make me pay deductibles. and on top of that, i got to pay for a co-pay coverage.

why in the world do i have to pay for medicare when, in fact, i should have had that my entire life. now i have to pay $12,000 a year. host: religioner in kansas. a lot of things that he listed off. one of the names that he listed off during his comments, robert f. kennedy jr., "the washington times" reporting on that, saying the latest statements from robert kennedy jr., he talks about fluoride removal. they write that mr. kennedy, a long-time active hoist plans to serve in the new administration, outlined the plan when it comes to fluoride on x. on january 20, the trump white house will advise all u.s. water systems to remove fluoride from public water, he wrote on x before the election. fluoride is an industrial waste. mr. kennedy pointed to a recent court ruling that ordered the u.s. environmental protection agency to respond to a federal

view that found a link between high levels of fluoride, lower i.q. in children. that's "the washington times." it was on fox news last week. asked about the role he may see in a future trump administration, here are the thoughts from last week. >> we are exploring a bunch of different structures in the trump administration, the trump team are very, very accommodating to give me what i want, and what i want to do is what president trump asked me to do, which is three things. one, to end the corruption and the corporate capture of these agencies. they're serving public health interests, robbery americans' interests in the pharmaceutical companies. number two, to restore the tradition in these agencies of gold standard, empirically based, evidence-based science in medicine what they had when i was a kid that they were world-famous for and what they lost. and then third, to end the chronic disease epidemic, which

disables 60% of my kids. when my uncle was president, it was 6%. it's costing us $4.3 trillion a year. 77% of american kids cannot qualify for military service. this is an existential threat. and he's asked me, have measurable results within two years. >> my question is how. why is he saying you wouldn't have a position? is that in the closing hours that they think that that might be a negative for some voters? what's going on? >> as its, that is not true. the campaign has walked back those documents. >> does that mean you think you might be the h.h.s. secretary if former president trump wins? >> we don't know what i'm going to do. i talked to the president yesterday, and he asked me what i wanted, and i said we're developing a proposal now.

i'm not sure whether that's going to be the most effective. i want to be in the white house, and he's assured me that i'm going to have that. i want to be in the position where i'm most effective and the chronic disease epidemic, and i'm confident that if i wanted to do h.h.s. secretary, the president would fight like hell to make that happen. host: you can talk about the appointments that have already been announced that are expected. your thoughts and grade the president-elect's team so far. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. text us at 202-748-8003. before we go back to calls, a little update when it comes to the senate and the house. the last senate race being called by the associated press, this was out of arizona.

democratic representative ruben gallego becoming senator-elect ruben gallego in his victory over kari lake. that's being reported by "the arizona republic" and the associated press as well. if you look at the map we have, if you go to our website, c-span.org.org, we show you the current status of the race. it provides the data that we show you when it comes to the various calls that have been made, from associated press. 53 republican seats in the next senate, over 47 democratic seats. that's the current stand of the senate. when it comes to the house, that's still yet to be determined about who will have power when it comes to the next house of representatives. the current count by the associated press now currently stands, republicans with 214 seats. several republican seats yet to be called, trending toward republicans. 218 needed. democrats with 205 seats so far.

that's the current state of the house election. we'll talk more about that in our next hour with two reporters looking at the house and senate and how they are preparing not only for the next term, but a new president as well. the president-elect announcing several key members of his team. let's hear about it from rick in texas, republican line. rick in texas, hello. caller: yes, sir. i'm from texas. i like his picks so far. with the immigration problem, he's in brownsville today, that's all i got to say. host: why is it an a+? caller: yes, sir. host: but why is that? why is it an a+? caller: with the picks so far that he's made, i think rubio, rubio, kennedy, and a bunch of

other ones that are involved with immigration deals. i've heard of those names, they sound good. host: ok. rick in brownsville, texas. anderson joins us from new york, line for democrats on the president-elect's picks so far. anderson, hello. caller: i'm cautiously optimistic about the choices so far. i'm not looking forward to an event where you have mr. trump making choices on people that were loyal to him during elections. i am really concerned about elon musk's role in this administration, want just him, but robert kennedy jr. i am concerned about that. i don't want a repeat of just trump's loyalists going along with what mr. trump wants. because what mr. trump wants is

not always good for america, and it's not always good for the world. so i am cautiously optimistic that this time around mr. trump has learned his lessons and to be president of the united states of america. we need unity in this country now. because yes, mr. trump won overwhelmingly, but there are people that disagree with a lot of stuff he's about to do, and i'm cautiously optimistic this time around mr. trump has learned his lesson and do the right thing for americans. host: you mentioned concerns over two specific names, elon musk and robert kennedy jr. what are your specific concerns about both those? caller: mr. musk, what he's stated, is not for his employees. i read something, there was a large article yesterday, i forget the publication, but they were mentioning about his stock option for his employees and so forth. he's not a man that promotes unions or labor, employees' rights and so forth and so on.

we all know the story will mr. musk. that's my concern. and robert f. kennedy, removing fluoride from the water we drink to preserve our mouth, i mean, this is really crazy stuff already. so i am hoping that somebody in the republican ranks would be a guardrail for mr. trump and what he's about to do. thank you very much. host: ike is next from new hampshire, independent line. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. host: good morning, you're on, go ahead. caller: you know, speaking of having control of the house and the senate, i think it's a good thing that trump gets all his cabinet picks and his senate, so that when people vote, i mean, i supported kamala harris, but i think, if you're voting for a president, if you vote the house

and you vote the senate to have control for that president so that we can actually judge on his policies that enacts, so that in four years, two years, it can be a referendum on what the president does. if you're picking him next time, you're picking based on what he's actually done. i think it's a good thing. we can all see what trump does and we can go from here. host: you talked about the process, but what about the names that you've heard so far? any concerns or people you like? how does that shake out with you? caller: yeah, you're right. that's a great question. the previous caller said, i think somebody like r.f.

kennedy, he's a little iffy as far as my thinking. i think he's a little too radical. but the john homan always the border czar, i did not like him in ice. you know, when he led ice. but i think we should give them what they want. this is what the people voted for. let's see what happens. host: ok. ike there in new hampshire. nashville, turns out on our independent line, another independent, this is adele. adele in maryland on president-elect trump's picks so far when it comes to key positions of his administration. adele, hello. caller: good morning, mr. pedro. good morning, america. yeah, i have issues with deportation. deportation isn't new. my problems here cannot be

serious type. they can judge latinos, and that's not right. there's thousands of ways europeans near america, and they burned the visas that they enter with, and they never came back to europe. they're still here. my other thing is the choice of extreme zionist little marco rubio. that guy is pro israel, and israel wants to take america for a war against iran. we don't need a war, and yeah, that's my issue. host: the position of secretary of state reportedly expected to go to marco rubio. no official confirmation as of yet. perhaps that comes today or in

the next couple of days. again, you can talk about the current state of these choices. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. perhaps you want to text, 202-748-8003. you can talk about these choices. let's hear from a floridian, manny, a republican. caller: good morning, pedro. thank you for having me. i'm glad with some of the choices that he's picking. i'm happy that he got elected. in all honesty, i did not know there was so many ignorant people in this country that think he's going to do are so outrageous. there's so much fear mongering going around. host: well, let's talk about the

choices. what are some standouts to you? caller: well, i think kennedy is a good choice. i think rubio is a great choice. and i think the one that's going to be in charge of the border is another good choice. i think he's picking good people. and as far as musk is concerned, if he can bring him in, bring him in. host: as far as marco rubio of florida being a great choice, what makes him a standt, what makes him great in your mind? caller: he's a good man, he's a family man. his parents came from immigrants. like i said, i know, because he's right down the street from me. i never saw or heard anything negative about him. he's going to be good. i think he's going to do a good job. all we can do is hope and pray that this country goes forward in the direction it needs to go.

host: that's manny talking about choices when it comes to the president's team. you can continue to call in on the line, post on our social, 202-748-8003 is the text. charles in ohio, democrats line, hi. caller: hi. host: you're on, go ahead. caller: i'm old enough to remember when ronald reagan was in office. i don't know about trump's picks, but when ronald reagan was in office, he decided to give all these corporation tax breaks to move overseas, stop immigration. now we're going to have tariffs to get the corporations back to the united states. thank you. host: we're talking about the picks so far. what do you think about the picks so far suspects you called to talk about that? caller: the picks don't matter. it's what he's going to do.

his picks, they're all, what do you want to call them, extreme. is whatever he wants to do, he's the president-elect, he's going to do what he wants to do. host: why do you think they don't matter? ok, jim is next. jim in pennsylvania, independent line. hi there. caller: yeah, i just wanted to indicate how much i like the picks of tom homan for border czar. he's a no-nonsense guy. pardon me? host: i did not say anything, please keep going. caller: yeah, i'm sorry. i got the tv on mute, and your lips were moving. host: at least you turned it down, thank you for that. go ahead. caller: he's a no-nonsense individual. i hope the rest of them follow

his lead. he pacifically follow the law -- he basically follows the law. he tells you if you don't like an aspect of what he's doing, talk to your legislator, don't talk to him. he's just going to follow the law as written. that's the way it should be. thank you. host: jim there in pennsylvania, talking about tom homan, the next expected head of i am congratulations and customs enforcement. again, you can talk specifically about him. some of you talking about other choices too. one of the people talking about those choices, by the way, was on capitol hill yesterday. it's rashida tlaib, chair of the congressional progressive caucus. they had a press conference outside capitol hill. one of the things that came up during the interaction with the press was about these names that you've heard in the last couple of days and their reaction to it. here's a portion of that conference from yesterday. >> look, i think the election results made clear, this is going to be a very challenging

time. stephen miller and tom homan were the architects of a lot of the first trump administration horrific immigration policies. so family separation, mass detention, those kinds of things is what was promised. and by the trump administration, and i think what we're going to have to fight. so i think we're going to continue to see a inform people that have -- a number of people that have disturbing histories being appointed to these positions. we're going to have to figure out how we fight that best. this is not a first trump term. this is a second trump term. and i take some -- there are both positives and negatives with that. i think we have fought this before to the point where we elected a new president in 2020. we did not elect donald trump. at the same time, this is many fewer restrictions with the kind of electoral majority that he won. so i think we're in that

discernment process. we'll have to figure out exactly what this looks like. obviously he's going to continue to name people to these positions who been architects of trump's project 2025 agenda. host: viewers, that was republican active jayapal, democrat from washington, head of the chair of the congressional progressive caucus. giving us your thoughts yesterday, you can do the same on the phone lines. we'll go next to jim in pennsylvania, independent line. jim in pennsylvania, hello, go ahead. caller: i just talked recently. do you want me to talk again? host: no, let's go to florida, republican line. caller: yeah, i love all of his picks so far. but what i'm waiting for is to bring tulsi gabbard in. i'm a little disappointed about marco rubio being slated for secretary of state.

i think she would have been the greater pick. but i like marco rubio, not for that position though. host: why not as secretary of state, if i may ask. caller: i don't think he's as qualified as tulsi gabbard. he's a great guy. i just don't think he has the makeup to do it. host: but why tulsi gabbard then? caller: because she is such a calming person. very firm, yet very calming. she has all the qualities that somebody would be very diplomatic in the secretary of state. i know she just recently joined the republican party, a former democrat, turned independent, and then republican like myself.

but she also has addition i don't know, i heard something a while ago about her trying to start a family. i don't know if that's the reason. i also think in trump's first term that she did not accept the position that was offered to her. i'm hoping that something comes one her, and i think there's a lot of people that think like me. host: senator rubio serving on the foreign relations committee. that's part of the process in these days following an election, seeing what names emerge when it comes to future positions in the administration, on the cabinet. again, some of these names already being revealed. you heard and mentioned some of them. text us, if you wish, post on sociedia sites there as well. up next, massachusetts,

democrats line. caller: yeah, i think the whole thing is a clown show. i think stephen miller is one of the most dangerous people to ever walk the face of this earth. and him being jewish and the way he acts is just reprehensible. he reminds me of joseph goebels in the 1940's. i'm waiting for rudy gull anee to get a position, and maybe that he's out of jail they'll put steve bannon somewhere. the clown show is going to continue. elections have consequences, unfortunately. host: wayne is in pennsylvania, independent line, hi. good morning, go ahead. caller: i just want to say i think j.f.k. is the best pick

for the thing going on there. the fruits they're producing have a one-year shelf life. my wife is grocery shopping. i bought a granola cigar orange peanut butter crackers to work the other day. the granola bar, read it was bioengineered. i open the peanut butter crackers, and they're bioengineered. we can't produce enough food in this country to feed people? i mean, why is everything bioengineered, changing our d.n.a. and everything else? but i think it's a good thing if you're going with qualifications this time instead of -- i'm not saying this to be rude -- if you're black or gay or transgender, then you can be head of department of transportation, they're actually going with qualifications, not your gender. host: why do you think r.f.k. jr. is qualified? caller: well, everything i've

been listening to him say, he wants to fixed food position. in europe, froot loops, ritz crackers, so many different foods in europe are banned, but they're force feeding these down our throat, our children, it can't be healthy. now, i'm no scientist, but the other thing i've been reading, it can't be no good for you. host: anthony up next. anthony, new jersey, democrats line. caller: yeah, real quick on r.f.k., these people is from the clown car. we're not being forced to buy these foods. we make decisions. that's what is it. and about trump and all these picks and everything, i just think that people are -- i don't know if the american people understand what happens after an election, which we're getting ready to find out now.

how does the current president or anybody else with a man with all these convictions and everything he's done wrong that's been factually proven, how is he going to walk in and welcome him in? host: go back to the picks. what are wrong with the picks in your mind specifically? caller: well, you know, you know, for one, they're all extremist it seems. i hear all the people talking about the good thing about marc rubio and the other guy that served well, but when trump does this, he wants to take out the recess picks now. i mean, it's just inevitable, and i can't understand how we're letting this man just walk in the white house and control this country when 80% of americans

think against the abortion rule. 80% of americans, and these couple of guys are telling us what to do, and now our democracy is at risk. i just sit here, and i watch every day heartbroken. host: that's anthony there in new jersey. president biden expected to welcome president-elect trump at the white house tomorrow as part of the transition process. also tomorrow on capitol hill on the senate side, elections for senate majority leader, the next senate majority leader expected to take place. you'll see the results of them. reset appointments being one of those things will be front and center when it comes to the next leader. we'll talk about that in our next hour with reporters who cover the house and the senate. you can ask them questions about that too. you can also talk about the election so far when it comes to the president's team. the next trump administration, let's go to patricia in

missouri, independent line, you're next up, hello. caller: hello. i want to say, you know, we don't have to like each other or get along, but people live on hate. they want to hate somebody. trump, majority of his workers are mexican. he ain't going to replace those that make money for him and his family. host: specifically how does that reflect on the president's choices so far as far as his administration? caller: he'll fire every other week, somebody he going fire, fire, fire, fire, fire. it's a joke. it's just a joke. he's a joke. it's just sad, you know? host: sharon is up next in delaware, republican line. caller: yeah, good morning. i would just like to ask everybody that's listening to your show this morning. number one, do they have amnesia? we just went through four years

of total chaos. not only within this country, but outside it, the middle east, everybody, there's wars everywhere, open borders. tom homan is the guy to put in there, and i am darn happy that he did that. he is going to go there n there and:house. the first thing that i hope tom homan does is get those border agents that were accused of whipping the migrants coming through, coming over the border, that were falsely accused of whipping them. we never got, they never got an apology from the white house as far as i know. they're still on desk duty. that, to me, is underhanded. everybody is like, oh, trump is a convicted felon. everything was fairly good under trump. as soon as the biden administration came in, everything just started going downhill. so if everybody was happy with that, number one, the democrats' number one this time wouldn't have voted for trump. neither would independents.

host: you live in delaware, you mentioned tom homan, why immigration the top issue there as far as not only concerns for you, but as far as the president's selection of tom homan? caller: because i know a school teacher in dover, delaware, that said roughly a month ago there were 70 haitian kids dropped off in nurse school. don't speak english. she said they just dropped them off and said you deal with them. the school was here in delaware, too, were also overrun. i'm in middletown, delaware. i notice a big change. just in the people, because i shop a lot. i go downtown and shop a lot. and i notice everything starting to get locked up, everything is behind glass. there's a lot of stuff down in middletown. we never had this. we never had this issue. and this is where biden is from. of course, kamala won delaware. i don't know how that's possible, but she did.

he's going to make some major changes. trump was in office for four years, and did he -- he did a lot of good things for this country he never got credit for. host: josh, hello. caller: hi, how are you? thanks, pedro. the last caller was talking about the pick for border czar, tom homan. how can people -- here's a quote that can be attributed, i'm not sure to who, but it's easier to fool someone than to convince someone they've been fooled. tom homan, previous republican callers said trump has nothing to do with project 2025. he doesn't know anything about it. he's the first person he appoints, tom homan, number one contributor to immigration professional in project 2025.

which one is it? do you not believe the lier that just lied to your face and installed the person that writes project 2025? the other caller talking about rubio being a good person. look up his voting record. he was the one that signed in asylum protection for felons prior to the biden administration coming in. that's your boy rubio. and then the last thing i want to say, for all these maga business owners that voted for trump and project 2025, i'm going to be making sure that you're all verified and that all your employees are u.s. citizens. this is what you voted for. if you don't use citizens, i think the reason is free. thank you. host: ok, that's josh there in illinois. "usa today" follows up with a profile of tom homan saying he deserved 34 years with the border patrol before becoming acting director of ice during the first two years of president trump's first term.

he was the first agent to leave the agency that oversees the immigration enforcement. as he told the republican national convention in july, he served under six presidents of both parties, starting with ronald reagan. but while they all promise to improve border security, homan said trump was the only one who actually did it. and he's going to do it again, he said. this story from the "usa today," adding deportations were higher during the obama administration than during trump, according to the department of homeland security figures. that's tom homan, the future of elon musk, the question as far as what role he'll serve in an administration that was former president trump, even as early as last month before the election, talking about the role musk might play in future trump administration. here's part of that conversation. >> i'm going to have elon musk. he's dying to do this. you know he's a great business guy, actually. you think of him for science and rockets and every time he's

telling me about something new that was developed. he's developed a new screw. screws are difficult, and it's made out of titanium and so exciting. you know what? he's a great business guy. he's a great cost cutter. you've seen that. and he said i could cut costs without affecting anybody. >> so he will be in the cabinet? >> he doesn't want to be in the cabinet. he just wants to be in charge of cost cutting. we'll have a new position, secretary of cost cutting, ok? elon wants to do that. and we have incredible people. he's running a big business. he can't just say oh, i think i'll go to the cab elon is different in that sense. and i want him to send a rocket to mars, and he said he's made me promise he'll get to mars before the end of my administration, which will long before hopefully china or russia. i created the space force. first time that's been done isn't air force. air force was the last, 81 years ago. i did space force.

and when biden heard, oh, he laughed, he thought it was so funny, he didn't understand it. he tried to end it, and the military went down on him, you wouldn't believe it. it's now going to be one of our most important things. we were getting killed in space by china and russia. host: let's hear from stephanie from staten island, independent line. caller: good morning. i'm very happy about the pick of r.f.k. i'm looking forward to him cleaning house in the f.d.a. he's been one of the few who have consistently spoken up about the additives in our food. there's so much corruption in the f.d.a. we're only one of two countries in the world that allows companies to advertise on tv. there's so many things that are in our food, i mean, over a box of chips ahoy or goldfish, there's words they're bioengineered, and it's not real food. if you go to europe, there's warning labels on our food.

it has artificial dyes and colors. i hope he cleans house, because the f.d.a. doesn't have americans' best interest in heart. the proof is in the grocery store. flip over, read the ingredient list. even the food back in the 1970's and 1980's, ungreed weren'ts were simpler, and over time they've corrupted. natural flavors are not natural, and i'm looking forward to r.f.k. getting americans healthy again, thank you. host: buffalo new york, republican line. this is joe. caller: just like to talk about marco rubio, elon musk, these are all people that disagreed with him and back stabbed him. i'm not saying i agree with trump, but how can you trust a politician that one day is for you, or against i, and then the next day they're for you? i just can't trust these politicians. that's all i want to say, thank you. host: james in florida, democrats line, hi.

caller: hi, good morning. thank you for having me. how can we trust this politicians? this is the beginning of the end of this republic. i am so upset on the outcome. we have a felon that has been elected to office compared to a female. that tells you the behavior about society. host: those are things we talked about over the last few days. what about the selection so far, as far as the next administration is concerned? caller: the next administration is going to be a clown show. i am excited. i am excited to see this unravel, and all of those who voted for the felon, i am excited to see what's going to be the outcome. thank you. host: why do you think it's going to unravel? caller: the republicans are unraveling now. host: specifically as far as these choices are concerned, why do you think it's going to unravel? caller: ok, so the choices that

he's making, it's a good old boy club. it's friends, all of his foes and friends and everybody. this country, we need to stick together, the republicans, the republicans and democrats. that's the only way vehicle sound, good things done for the average person in this country. the division is bad. roam divide and had fall. our republican is going to be divided and it's going to fall. host: ok, that's james there in florida. a couple of events to watch out for on the network today. the house and the senate both back. you can watch them respectively on our main channel, c-span1 and channel channel2 as they start up business again. later on today, federal reserve chair board governor christopher waller will talk about monetary policy at the clearinghouse 2024 annual conference. there's discussions of the election and what goes forward when it comes to the federal reserve will come up. you can see that on c-span2. our app, our free video app,

c-span now, and then you can also follow along at c-span.org if you wish. also later on today, right after this program, house republican leadership press conference featuring house speaker mike johnson and others. again, talking not only about the business of government, but also the previous election, what it means for next year. c-span, the main channel, right after this program if you want to stick around and watch it, always available on the app and the dot-org too. let's go to john in maryland, independent line on the picks of president-elect trump so far and how you grade those or rate those. john, hello. caller: good morning. i think these selections are exciting. they're all strong leaders. one commonality they have is they're not pushovers. they will fight, and they will protect president trump's agenda, milwaukee our country

stronger and safer. democrats, stop crying, ok? you had a week to change this election. you did not vote, get out there and vote in chicago. host: caller, back to the choices. you said they weren't pushovers. what exactly does that mean to you? caller: the first instance of something wrong, goes wrong, they're not going to sit there and cry about it. i think they're going to work around it, work to accomplish the mission. that's what i'm looking at. tom homan, i think marco rubio is an excellent choice for secretary of state. he's going to bring something, a new dimension, to our diplomacy, internationally. host: how so? caller: i just think he's got the ability to do it. i mean, nikki haley didn't have any experience, but she did well in foreign policy. i think so will marco rubio.

also at the same time, president trump is right about elon musk. he's a cost cutter. he's going to lead the agency, the new agency of government efficiency, and he's going to get rid of people who don't want to work who are in government jobs and promote themselves during the last two administrations. host: ok, let's hear in caroline host: let's hear from carolyn in north carolina, democrats line. caller: the choices that trump is choosing in the white house, it doesn't matter who he chooses because he's able will have no voice, if no power. the only person that has a power in the white house when he goes in there is donald trump and if they don't do exactly what he wants then they won't be there. so what donald trump has unlimited power and doesn't need balanced power because no one

will tell him he cannot do anything. host: don't you think having a choice of the present would want to do matter what party? caller: you should have a balance. people should be individuals. that is what this country was founded on. trump has proven he does not listen. he lost in 2020 and he ran and they back to him. with trump, you will not be in their at all. the picks don't matter. host: alabama, tim, republican line. caller: i just want to say that we have -- people that he is

picking, there have to be people who agree with him and his policies and it is essential. i don't think the american people at any time has had control. if you don't agree you can't work together. i am thankful we have had the opportunity to vote and let's watch. host: one more call from debbie in pennsylvania, independent

line. good morning. caller: good morning. the first thing i would like to say is senator schumer needs to let mccormick in the orientation. we have to put the past in the past. it is ridiculous. i understand people don't like trump. i don't like him sometimes but his policies work. his cabinet that he is picking, they are strong and they stand with the constitution. host: what convinces you that the picks are strong? caller: they -- constitutionally. the problem i had from the democratic party in the last four years is it is kind of like

the bible how when you look at one church and it is interpreted one way and the other church is interpreted another way. that is with they are doing with the constitution. host: thank you to those who participated. a lot going on preparing for a new administration. two guests are joining us, we will be welcomed by emily brooks and stephen neukam. we will also talk to philip wegmann about the incoming trump administration discussing project 2025. here are some sounds from yesterday's veterans memorial.

>> i have set it many times

before, i got in trouble for saying it as a young senator. i said we have a lot of obligations but only one truly sacred obligation, sacred, prepare those we send into harm's way and to care for them and their families when they return home and when they don't. so the obligation is not based on party or politics but the promise that unites us all today as we strive on, finish the work and we commit to the sacred vow. this is the last time i will stand here as commander-in-chief. it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve you, to care for you, to defend you, just as

you defended us generation after generation after generation. you of the greatest fighting forest, the finest fighting force in the history of the world. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the biggest events with livestream's, floor proceedings and hearings from congress, white house events, courts, campaigns in more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can stay up-to-date with episodes and c-span now is available at the apple store and google play it. scan the code to download for free and visit our website. it c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime,

anywhere. >> since 1979 in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings and committee meetings. it c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the house and senate back to work in joining us to talk about not only the day to day stuff but what is expected with the new administration. emily brooks reports on the house and we are expected to be joined by stephen neukam from

axios in just a bit. welcome to the program. guest: thank you. host: yesterday when you said what comes to the house. guest: the hill partners last night called 219 races, so gives republicans the majority in the house. the ap is behind. different callers are different but the bottom line is republicans are on track to have a very slim majority again in the house and what this means that trump and republicans will have a trifecta control of government meeting they can push through maybe at some things that they are working on relatively quickly. speaker johnson has been working for months on the priorities he is pushing through congress with

total control of government. and that will be the major focus. host: one of the things you reported on it recently was the future of the trump tax cuts from the previous trump administration. faces the house? guest: many eight tax cut provisions expiring and republicans would like to make it perfect -- permanent and extend them. there has been discussion about the state and local tax deduction which republicans from high tax states don't like how there is a cap on that. the biggest thing to know is that republicans have been talking about republicans in the senate using the reconciliation budget process to bypass the filibuster and get the economic agenda through without having to

have the 60 vote threshold. they are going to try to pass as much as they can and they have been talking about the border in border funding. the speaker has said what that looks like we are not sure but legislation is being drafted. host: you highlight some of the parts of the inflation reduction act. guest: certainly there are many parts of the inflation reduction act which democrats pushed through and republicans are answering that they would like to repeal some of that, mainly the climate initiatives that were in that. with republicans having a slim majority, it is a question about how many climate initiatives and tax credits get from republicans that they will be able to

repeal. there are some republicans and more competitive seats that looked at the climate initiatives and tax credits and say it is good for their districts and even signed a letter to speaker johnson to keep them in place. depending on which ones are targeted, how much they can repeal, there is money that has been distributed from the climate initiatives and it remains a question about how big they would be. host: looking at education priorities to your story, school choice and higher education aspects. guest: higher education was a major focus of republicans over the past year, especially in the aftermath of the war in israel and gaza and concerns about campus -- antisemitism on campuses. continuing to press university presidents on speech codes and

opening up to the conservative viewpoints. speaker johnson has talked about using the tax code to influence school choice and promote the idea. there has been one bill that made it through the house queens and -- ways and means that has scholarships to fund education and that is a bill to look at and how house republicans would support school of choice. host: let's bring in stephen neukam from axios. good morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: give us the latest on the future leader. guest: we will get an election tomorrow and we should know with the next leader will be heard it is rick scott, john cornyn and john thune. if you listen to the gop

insiders the way the race has played out over the last few months, john thune who is a disciple of mitch mcconnell, a lot of folks will say john boone has the inside track to be the next leader but there has been a lot of at least public momentum especially in the media. you are talking about x. a lot have come up to endorse rick scott for all intents and purposes is to the right and for that john thune and donald trump and john thune have had a strained relationship in the past. the thing to remember is that it is a secret ballot so the public pressure only it matters so much because at the end of the day, the people who are trying to pressure folks to vote one way or another it will never really

know how one of the senators voted. host: if you want ask questions (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. one thing the future leader will have to deal with is how the president wants to use recess deployments. tell us what it is and how it works. guest: president elect trump has publicly called on the next republican leader to allow him to make recess appointments for the way that works is essentially when congress leaves to go on recess the president elect once the ability to make cabinet appointments and appointments to his administration with congress out

of town, hamstringing them the ability to stop the nomination from happening good right now the way the senate works is it is specifically does pro forma sessions, meaning no business is conducted with the floor is open and they do that to prevent against recess appointments for that is the way the senate is structured. it will be the way the chamber has worked for the last few decades but that is the power that president elect trump wants. host: emily brooks, the one thing mike johnson with the future of the speakership, how do you stand and how do you think it will change? guest: mike johnson of course will have the same problems that he has now where the slim majority means only a handful of retractors can block his agenda and if it is only republican

votes on a piece of legislation they can block that and potentially threaten his speakership. the speaker will be nominated in the internal house republican leadership activities tomorrow but he still has to get a majority on the house floor which means almost unanimous support from republicans. and we saw from kevin mccarthy that is not so easy. so will he have trouble getting that? that is why the final numbers of with the house majority will matter. the speaker has had once attempt to oust him led by representative marjorie taylor greene and it is unclear where they stand. there are ways as we saw previously with the democrats who did not vote for speaker

pelosi to be sober where they can vote president and not affect the outcome. there is not a technical challenge to mike johnson yet but if there will be, we will see. the deadline to challenge him on the internal house republican election is noon today. we will know soon if that is something that will be seriously or if this will get dragged out through january. host: let's hear from thomas in maryland, it democrats line. caller: i would like to ask your guests, what is their background to be in this position? i don't see any people of color working for axios or for the hill. if you have them, you have them but we don't see them on tv. this is a problem for me in the

way the boats are going to go down because we say that trump got x amount of votes of color to help him get over the top but we told cp i'm getting to speak on anything. host: virginia, republican line it. good morning. joanne, hello? caller: hi there, i would just like to ask the guests about the procedure in the senate for selecting its leader. why is it secret and why can't we change that? host: we will go to stephen neukam. guest: the reasoning behind it being a secret ballot to insulate lawmakers from the pressure campaigns.

we have seen it pretty significantly campaigning from right wing media and talking about folks like tucker carlson and elon musk who have come out in support of rick scott for majority leader. they can make endorsements all they want and i am sure they do matter and will sway lawmakers one way or another but at the end of the day, if they want the conference and at lawmakers to be insulated from the outside pressure to be able to make a sober and realistic choice of who they think is the best person to be the majority leader. host: with the slim majority, how many of the house freedom caucus members are still going to push back against the current slate of proposals not only by the president elect white mike

johnson himself and what does that mean for mike johnson if he stays house speaker? guest: the house freedom caucus has been a little deer quiet. -- eerily quiet. they are returning to congress today so we will hear more from them. but members of the freedom caucus in general are overly whelming -- overwhelmingly supportive of the trump administration and there may be some hesitation to necessarily show republicans pushing back on him and his agenda in the new majority, especially when you have momentum for certain things. on the point of the secret ballot, on the republican side, the internal nominations are also a secret ballot and that is one reason why the speaker election is interesting because

everyone is on record on the house floor saying who they voted for and why it makes it difficult for speaker johnson. host: linda, ohio, democrats line. caller: hello. my opinion on whether -- ok. so we know the senate is going to be a majority republican and possibly the house is going to be all republican also. so it doesn't really matter, because in my opinion, trump is going to do whatever he wants to do anyway. his agenda is whatever he wants his agenda to be. in my opinion because of the dictator that he wants to be, in my opinion it doesn't matter if

congress leans republican or democratic because in my opinion , trump is just going to do whatever he is going to want to do and the people he will have around him are the ones who will dictate to him, not congress or the american people. host: emily brooks, is it a rubber stamp should they turn the house republican? guest: there is a lot of stuff that trouble due by executive order in bypassing congress in not having to wait for consensus are enough to get past the senate filibuster. there are certain things that he will need congress to do, especially if he wants to preserve things into the future and preserve his legacy and cement those into law and is run -- one reason why making the tax cuts richer -- permanent are important to get bypassed and

not get agreement with democrats on those. it will be interesting to see how much trump does bend it congress to their will and if there will be people such as those who are not necessarily rubberstamping what he wants to do. in 2017, there was this agreement about repealing obama care in the affordable care act and we will have to keep an error on that. host: stephen neukam, same question to you. guest: what is interesting and you need to keep an eye on and what emily talked about is how much trump could bend them to their will -- his will. there are some things that have to go through the legislative process to get done like the tax process. there will be things like government funding and a number of things that have to go through congress. we have already seen him with

the recess appointments to try to put pressure and allow him to take that extraordinary step to fast-track his administration to being confirmed and also in the senate is a question of the filibuster. does president trump put pressure on whoever the next republican leader is to get good of the filibuster. we are tracking for 850 3-47 split given what is going on -- we are headed for a 53-47 split given what is going on in washington. and there are some that could stand in the way. there are dynamics on capitol hill that could stop this agenda from getting done. host: joe is on our line for republicans in missouri. caller: my thing is, are there

still votes being counted in some states? this is what makes us suspicious of a fair election. this is a week later in the votes are still not counted? host: the arizona race being determined as of yesterday. were there concerns you heard about the process? guest: i think people in general are frustrated with how long this process takes. it is more egregious and takes longer in specific states that they are still counting votes and the reason a lot of these races and emily can talk about the house but the margins in a lot of these states are so great that no matter how the outstanding vote breaks it is exceedingly unlikely that the

candidate who is losing it will overtake the candidate who is winning and that is what makes the news organizations comfortable calling that. guest: the bulk of the seats we are still waiting for are in california. this is where the state-by-state rules and regulations come into play because california except mail-in ballots up until a week after election day. so today is the last day ballots come in and are mailed in and are going to be counted. for other states, yours has to arrive by election day. and then there is a question of are you allowed to vote them and process them before actually putting them in the machine on election day or do you have to wait until the polls closed open the ballots. a lot of things like that factor into it. host: now that elise stefanik has the votes of the united

nation, what happens to her seat in the leadership position? guest: the leadership position, the scramble is on. republicans jumping into the race. we have lisa mcclain of michigan, currently a lower ranked position as comp and secretary. we have people like moore of utah who is looking at it. some in florida are looking at it and indiana. this is a position focused on communication for the conference. the chair is tasked with the organization of the press conferences.

and also technically presiding over the conference internal meetings is what the conference chair does. traditionally this role on the republican side is usually dental by a woman and one of the roles that traditionally has a woman for the last many years and there is a scramble for that. with elise stefanik leaving congress after she is confirmed, that could be difficult for republicans with the margins in the house. in new york, the special elections around 2.5 months is when the special election would be. host: stephen neukam, there are questions about whether the senator elect from pennsylvania should participate in events on capitol hill. can you tell our viewers about that? guest: there was a question over the weekend about whether dave mccormick who is the senator

elect from pennsylvania who defeated the incumbent bob casey . ap has called the raise in other news organizations haven't. there is a lot of outstanding vote, over 100,000. the race is sort of within .5% which is an automatic recount. in pennsylvania, still a close race but ap has called the race for dave mccormick. chuck schumer, the senate majority leader, was not allowing others, lives over the weekend, not invited them to new member orientation happening today in washington. he has changed his mind and they have invited both to the orientation today. host: stephen neukam of axios joining this as well as emily brooks from the hill.

let's hear from richard in illinois, independent line. caller: my main concern is the educational issue. speaker of the house johnson is known to be -- we have a foreign national, australian and eight major educational effort in the country. the education, i have no problem. i don't understand what the ramifications will be one way or the other but my local school district has the centralized school all of the buses are going around and they should condemn certain schools and decentralize the system so the children in those areas can walk to school and use the centralize facility for bigger events, research or things like that. host: richard in illinois. you talked about the education policy and what is expected but

stephen neukam, let me ask you that. guest: a lot will be decided at the executive level given the power of the residence. not just at the department of education but across all federal agencies you will see new faces coming in and i think you'll see a drawback and shakeup of the power of the federal government and the way those agencies are administering everything they are responsible for. on the legislative side, it might be on the list of things that need to get done or they want to get done over the next two years in this congress but as emily has alluded to, first thing will be the tax fights

coming through this next year, the biggest thing facing lawmakers and the president. this is a generational opportunity for republicans to rewrite the tax code and change how the u.s. government spends its money and raises its money. >> i want to ask you both about the budget reconciliation and what it means. what does it mean for the senate? it just allows lawmakers to bypass the need to get to 50 votes and allows you to get past the filibuster which is the largest hurdle in the senate and you need both majorities in both chambers. house republicans playing around with the majority at this point. emily has talked about the need for a larger margin. the fact that could be a two or

three seat majority could make reconciliation a tough lift for both chambers at this point. host: take it from there. guest: speaker johnson has meant working on it for months and talking about who will be the leader of the senate about the idea. he talked about it on the campaign trail to use this reconciliation opportunity. the thing that is important to know about reconciliation, you can't do it all of the time. it is a once maybe twice type of thing where you can do it. there are questions about how much can you stuff in there, and will the senate parliamentarian accept that and how much can they do on the border. that was the tax policy package. can they do adjustments and can they be shot down.

a lot of questions about how much they put in and they have very big hopes. you have seen dramatic fractures that hold up legislative activity when they don't get what they want. will they do that for something this important and big that is supposed to be a big major package in trump's first 100 days, we will see. host: let's go to sharon in new jersey, democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question is, 29 out of 40 people voted and votes are not showing. what is the discrepancy in the non-votes that are being called. my granddaughter voted for the first time. she is away at college and

wanted her vote to be counted in pennsylvania. she sent her ballot in time and is showing as a no vote and several of my friends and beyond. host: let's see how both are dealing with the idea of accuracy of the election. any expression from the democrats on the house side? guest: we haven't seen any concerns from the democrats on the house side. it may be different if trump wasn't winning the electoral votes. we were wondering if democrats would raise concerns about him becoming president in the not having the electoral college or not having the popular vote and only having the electoral college that is something that raised concerns about when he was first elected in 2016. but i think after january 6, 2021, the whole stop the steel

in the 29, democrats campaigned on democracy and inspecting the result they are reluctant to question the integrity of the system this time around and because across the country you have seen so much of a shift to the right and all kinds of different districts. trump won every swing state and it was not as close and a dynamic that would cause much issue for them to raise. guest: i think democrats, especially given the fact that the president elect trump won the popular vote and they got shellacked at the top of the ticket. they are conscious of the stop the steal rhetoric that have been four years ago and i think

that at least the posture i have gotten from the democrats i have talked to is that yes, they lost the election fair and square and have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to win again in the midterms. host: you get a sense of soul-searching within democrats in the senate. guest: i think soul-searching might be a bit exaggerated. i think that obviously, the party is examining what happened about what went wrong and what they it loss but on the senate side there is acknowledgment that -- vice president harris was outperformed. they won some races, jacky rosen in nevada, and hanging on in wisconsin. elissa slotkin will be the next democratic senator from michigan and these are all states that

vice president harris lost. there is a feeling within the democratic party and we have seen it with the finger-pointing that has gone on that there was a unique problem at the top of the ticket given biden's unpopularity and the truncated campaign harris had to run, a very unique dynamic at the top of the ticket. they need to figure out what went wrong but i think democrats are also wary of not throwing out what went right in some of those braces. host: i will use introspection instead of soul-searching. what is going on? guest: there is a lot of disappointment but also nancy pelosi spoke to the new york times last week in an interview and wrote about how there are also a lot of democrats in the swing districts who outperformed harris at the top of the ticket. republicans are not significantly expanding their

majority. a lot of the races for the house were in states that are not swing states and perhaps democrats were better positioned there. it is not necessarily a total, maybe more looking at strategy. it is still certainly some soul-searching and there will always be when there is the big rebuke at the top of the ticket but certainly democrats are not as much as they should be. host: ed, independent line. caller: i am wondering how likely it is that the narrow possible majority of the gop coming up in the house could affect renewing the 2017 tax

cuts. think that cost $1.820 to the debt. and if they are going forward if they renew that next year, it should add five point $4 trillion to the debt and that is if we count other cuts they are planning on doing which i think i am reading cbo numbers that should add $10 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years if the cbo is correct. guest: certainly republicans are looking at expanding the tax cuts from the 2017 bill. are they concerned about debt and deficits, we hear from them all the time that they are concerned about the debt and deficits but history has shown when it comes to tax cuts, republicans are not as concerned about the effect on the debt and deficit and they say it is a spending problem and we should

cut spending. they also argue that tax cuts will stimulate the economy and bring in new revenue. that aside, there is a very big going to be tension between republicans in washington about how much do you try and cut taxes and address the promises that trump made on the campaign trail, no taxes on overtime, social security tax questions, they all have significant impact on revenue and the debt. on the other you have republicans that have held up government funding because there are not enough programs being slashed to address spending in the way they like. that tension will be something to keep an eye on. host: stephen neukam? guest: the deepening of the deficits and federal debt when

we are talking about how democrats dig themselves out of the hole they find themselves in incongruous in the presidential level, that is something they will latch onto very the idea that republicans want to cut taxes, they will argue that they want to cut taxes for the wealthy. i think trump says said publicly he wants to bring the corporate rate further down. that is a key messaging opportunity for democrats and that is what chuck schumer, he keene jeffries over the next two years need to find opportunities like this. you can't really stop the agenda from happening. you can make it more painful and slow it down but the challenge is the message against the agenda and find a way to turn it on its head so that when november 2026 rolls around or when 2026 rolls around you can

reclaim the majority in the house and senate. host: we will hear from roger on our independent line, milwaukee. caller: i would like to bring up two aspects, one on tariffs and one on the tax problem in regard to our national debt. the tax one for the tariffs, just quit. instead of having the tariffs that he has mentioned, whatever happened to the idea in america, the largest consumer market by far than the whole world and just like there is costco and sam's club, why don't we have a membership for countries who want to do business in the united states and come up with a membership fee for those countries? putting that aside, when it comes to the national debt, this

would be what i would consider a 10-15 year program, and that is to go to a no tax loophole tax system of which you would have two exceptions, one for medical and the other one is if companies in which individuals want to reduce their taxes they can make a direct contribution to the national debt. host: ok. roger in milwaukee. stephen neukam, let me ask you this. the senate turning over to republican hands, will we watch for the tax-writing committees? guest: the tax committee is the finance committee. it starts at the top, whoever will be the republican leader in the senate will have an enormous

amount of sway and power over the direction of the conversation about tax policy and what that process looks like and then the top republican on the finance committee, there were some things that went down in congress before the election that strained the relationship. the house even passed the extension of the child tax credit, including r&d measures for taxes that overwhelmingly passed the house and then got sunk in the senate. so they walked away from the table from negotiating on those measures. that relationship is a bit strained. there is some bad blood left over from 2024 that carries into the 2025 process. there are other republicans and democrats in the senate who are

folks that are familiar with financial services. there are some folks who are living like mitt romney who will no longer be in. you will see who takes place and is influential in that conversation. host: emily brooks, if all this is going forward to the tax cut he is to watch the ways and means committee. guest: a relatively new chairman to the ways and means midi session and he is definitely all over the place on tax issues but he will be the main person to watch when writing this, a big dynamic he has had to deal with on the republican side is the question of the state and local tax deduction of those republicans from high tax states like new york, california who have been pushing him and

republican leaders to get rid of the caps or addresses so that their constituents can get more tax relief. how he handles that, especially with trump coming out and saying perhaps we can do something on the salt deduction cap that he signed into law. host: annie in florida, democrats line. caller: good morning. have a quick question about how they are picking the head of the house of representatives, mike johnson. i just feel as though i really

don't feel comfortable with him being the head of the house of representatives. also, i just don't understand -- i just wish the democrats would have voted more. i don't see how any in the senate, congress or anything is going to work because there are too many chiefs and not enough indians. there is too much ego and i really don't see much of anything getting done in the next few years. host: ok. guest: certainly no shortage of vehicles on capitol hill.

that is for sure. when it comes to the process for electing the speaker of the house, tomorrow, republicans will in their internal conference, returning and incoming members vote to nominate a speaker candidate. that is only 50% threshold and it is a secret ballot and will very likely be mike johnson even if there is a last-minute challenge from the freedom caucus, right wing or allies or the thing to look at is january 3, the opening of the new congress on the house floor. the speaker will have to get your teeth 50% of the people who vote for a candidate by their name which means all the democrats are certainly to vote for akeem johnson. the republicans -- hakim --

democrats are certain to vote for hakim jeffries. the republicans saved johnson the last time. will there be a handful of people who vote for a different candidate? there are the normal numbers you want to look for is 218, but if somebody is sick and cannot be there at that day or if somebody votes for president rather than a candidate, that changes the numbers a little bit so that a just that maybe there will be a protest where somebody votes for president and -- for present and that changes the numbers. whether there is another speaker fight is something we are keeping a close eye on and have not heard -- don't have the count yet we don't have the

exact numbers for the house geordie. host: stephen neukam has been a preference for the candidate for the next speaker? guest: for speaker, i don't think there is any other option than mike johnson. vance has not made an endorsement on the senate majority leader side but i think when we are talking about egos, washington is the wrong town if you don't like eagles but the way the senate works and i don't think it is an ego thing, it senator is individually more powerful than any individual house member. when we go to the major legislative push at the top administration is going to want, there is going to be the opportunity for one or two lawmakers to say no and essentially stop the whole process.

the spotlight falls on folks like susan collins, lisa murkowski, the republicans who have voted with democrats in the past and because of the way the senate works, you need 60 votes or unanimous consent to get most things done in the senate. if they say no and put their foot down, they could really cause significant disruption in the legislative plans for the top administration. host: is a sense that senator vance when he becomes vice president will be the ambassador to get legislative priorities done? guest: i think that will certainly be part of his rule but you also have to remember that jd vance was not in the senate for very long. i think it is sort of the same dynamic facing vice president harris when we were talking about what would her capitol hill allies look like in the

same thing for jd vance. he just hasn't been there for a very long time. his political career is still relatively new. it has been a rocket ride to the top. talk has a less -- trump has a lasting relationship with a lot of these in the senate. the number two in the senate is close to president elect trump. and also mike johnson and trump have gotten acquainted over the last year. host: emily brooks, what do you think? guest: speaker johnson's relationship with trump is key and he talks often how he has talked to him and trump has praised johnson and that is another reason he is very likely to remain speaker because of the relationship with trump. trump has not officially endorsed johnson to be speaker but if there is anything congress is considering and trying to get a handle where

they stand, it will go straight to trump rather than jd vance. host: from texas, republican line. caller: good morning. the question that i have, i voted with the republicans. i have done it this time and i did it locally. my thing is, a lot of my friends are saying that harris lost because basically sex was the driving force because it was a split as far as more men went to trump and about even as far as women and women went to harris. i wanted to get your take on that. host: postelection analysis continues. guest: i think it is hard to quantify the idea of sexism.

i talked about it when i was eight campaign reporter in 2020. i didn't even hear from democratic voters that they were worried about choosing a woman to be at the top because of the effects of sexism. and voters themselves that they were sure if a woman would be best to win -- run the country and that was more rare. but how to quantify it when looking at pulling data and post election data. i think we are still waiting for a bit of that to come in. i think there are a lot of other issues that democrats probably agree were bigger and more major factors to the unpopularity of president biden and how long it took him to exit the race and the assumptions that democrats didn't think he would seek a

second term and then he did and there wasn't time for those to prove themselves in a primary. they are looking at that as well as sexism but probably more. host: stephen neukam? guest: i think the social issues mixed in with i think any woman would be a presidential candidate whether on the republican or democrat or independent ticket, whoever it is, that is certainly a concern in some think we see each will be have these elections but i also think emily is right. i talked to democrats and the number one thing, to things they talked about mostly in the aftermath of the election. it is yes, biden's unpopularity and number two was inflation and the fact that they didn't find a message on inflation. the message they were offering voters was a complete split from the reality that they see at the grocery store only a go to the

gas pump. that is one of the major things that the democratic party has to wrestle with and figure out what they did wrong on the economic messaging and how to get it right the next time around. host: west virginia, patricia, democrats line. caller: wanted to ask either one or both of your guests question. trump's pick for secretary of state, marco rubio, i would like to know how he plans to conduct business with china when he has been banned from traveling to china. how is that going to be handled. if he can't go to china, how can

he conduct business with china when he has been banned from china? host: ok, stephen neukam? guest: i don't know how they will figure it out but i think in general the posture toward china is going to be more aggressive and both economically and diplomatically in the way they sort of interact with each other. i think it is going to be more of an edge to it. this is one thing republicans have talked about throughout the entire biden administration and they thought they were too soft on china. i expect to see a heating up of the way they will interact with the country and their leaders. on the question of travel, i am not sure how they will work that

out and maybe they will figure it out now that he will be secretary of state. host: what should viewers be watching for in the senate? guest: we will see senate majority leader election tomorrow and figure out and that is the next big decision will be the top and the senate to be a key partner with trump. and until power is relinquished in january, schumer and the leadership are in a sprint to confirm as many judicial confirmations as possible. they have two this week and getting the process started on the third. there are 21 short of the mcconnell-trump number, at 234. they want to go past that. if you are watching the senate over the next few weeks, you will see a lot of judicial confirmations. host: what is to watch for in the house? guest: the government funding

deadline on december 20 is what we haven't talked about. there has been a long push from hard-line conservative wing in house -- to extend that into next year, potentially march, when republicans will have control. trump will then be in office in the idea being that he can sign into law the lower spending levels and cut spending that way , get a better negotiated deal than they can get right now with democrats advising in the white house. however, the other line of thinking on that is you don't want to burden a new president with a budget fight right when he is trying to enact his first 100 day agenda. will they end up extending the deadline? on the hill we heard from one republican leadership source that is likely that they will take that deadline and kick it

ahead. speaker johnson has said they don't want omnibus. exactly what that looks like, that's to be determined, but people will be upset in the republican either way. host: you can find emily brooks on the hill and stephen neukam on axios. thank you to both of you. coming up, we speak with philip wegmann from real clear politics on the potential role that project 2025 might have in the incoming trump administration. that when "washington journal" continues. ♪ ♪ >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress. from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee hearings.

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information on how to enter. the deadline is january 20, 2025. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us philip wegmann now is philip wegmann -- joining us now is philip wegmann to discuss project 2025, which we heard a lot about during the campaign. does it mean more today now that we have a president-elect? guest: that's the million-dollar question. heritage put together this project and they have been doing it since the reagan administration but the different thing this time was they invited the entire conservative constellation to get under their banner and prepare policy for the upcoming republican administration and i have to tell you, nobody cared about it when it first started and i can tell you that with authority because i broke that story two years ago, it wasn't that interesting until that 900 page policy document got out there. democrats are taking a closer look, and with good reason.

they pointed out that a lot of these policies were written by trump alumni. president biden and vice president harris made the argument that this is a playbook for donald trump, giving democrats a lot of examples to hit trump over the head with. host: what's the official stance of the trump administration? guest: we have heard this a dozen times at this point from the president-elect and the vice president-elect, no one speaks for the campaign except us. there are some examples of cross pollination. you have alumni, folks like tom homan, peter navarro, writing this project. also, the expectation is that just like in previous administrations that trump would pick from some of these heritage staff lists. what we can report for the first time is that when trump and his campaign were basically

heralding the demise of project 2025, behind-the-scenes he was on the phone with kent roberts, president of the heritage foundation, to turn down the volume until after the election. host: what was the point of that? guest: when harris says can you believe they put this in writing? for the most part, some of these things they were prescribing, it's a little pie in the sky, but it is something they have wanted for a long time. the issue was, particularly with abortion polity -- policy, like all think tanks, heritage was describing the ideal. when the ideal is farther to the right of what the trump campaign was describing, it created confusion among reporters, the public, and gave democrats the opportunity to go on the attack. host: what was the mandate for

leadership? guest: their blueprint for how they want any administration to govern. heritage has been doing this since the reagan administration. republicans often rely on some of those policy proposals in the way that any think tank puts together a white paper and hopes they can put it into law. the difference this time is that it was much more expansive. the reason why they started this effort years ago was they were solving for the problem of the first trump administration. he gets to town, doesn't expect to win and he's shellshocked. doesn't know which policies to pursue. he has a general direction but doesn't know who to rely on. 2016, two thousand 17, he relies on a lot of rank-and-file republicans and he begins with general republican marching

orders. conservatives felt it was a wasted opportunity. with this they were trying to have a game plan ready to go on day one. host: if you want to ask our guest questions, (202) 748-8000 free democrats, -- for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, independent are (202) 748-8002. text us at (202) 748-8003. and there's this link for working for the administration? guest: yes, you can prescribe policy, but personnel is significant. we all know this. there was concern after the back and forth between heritage and the trump campaign that they would be locked out and blacklisted.

the cochair of the trump transition team focused on the personnel said that you are radioactive if you have anything to do with 2025, project 2025. there no lock and no key for project 2025 into the trump administration. his argument was that if you send me a resume with project 2025 on it, that's going out the window. what we have seen, though, is this administration has 4000, 5000 spots to fill. not just cabinet positions. these are lower level bureaucratic positions that will be filled before there is a confirmation at the head of the agency. transitions are frenetic. they are difficult things to do. what we have been able to report so far is that while there is still bitterness from the campaign, the trump campaign was frustrated that heritage didn't turn down the volume sooner, it seems a lot of the heritage of

alumni and the folks involved in project 2025 have not been given the cold shoulder. we just heard this week that one heritage fellow will be the borders are for trump. host: what about previous republican administrations? guest: they see personnel as policy. their hope is that if they get the right people in position, they can move any administration in a more conservative direction . don't just think about roles at the white house. think about mid-level roles at the epa or the office of management and. they have found the wonks and eggheads who live for this sort of stuff and are prepared to reshape the government. heritage over the next 100 days

or so will be laser focused on doing everything they can to make certain that their people with a helpful symbiosis. trump is haunted by the apathetic republicans who didn't share his vision when he was in office the first time. with the heritage foundation, these are true believers. host: you said they had a conversation to turn down the heat. going further on that, what about embracing certain people? guest: there are others. i would keep an ion russ vote, who's no longer there with the center for american renewal. i would be looking at peter navarro, an author for project 2025. you can go through the project

2000 25 index. this is why the herod -- the harris campaign was taking a closer look. a lot of these guys are alumni. the past is a guide here. trump loves heritage. in his first term he spoke at their gala. they were giving him a lot of policy ammunition for what he wanted to get done. host: philip wegmann is joining us from real clear politics. let's start with sam, independent line, you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: a lot of people don't understand what project 2020 five is in the democrats are using this against donald trump. the other thing i wanted to say is we have a lot of programs on tv right now doing nothing but teaching hate, we need to unify the country and get together and do the best thing for our children and grandchildren and the future.

we have these shows on tv like jimmy kimmel live, the view, all these other shows, they just teach eight against trump. we need to unite together and start doing what's best for our country. host: a lot of people don't understand project 2025, his first part. guest: i thought that his comment there was interesting. what we saw over the summer was that project 2025, this white paper suddenly in the cultural zeitgeist. i don't know if jimmy kimmel live specifically made a joke about it, but plenty did in late night, on places like "the view," it was in the mainstream and everyone was arguing about it. it's not unusual for think tanks to do this sort of thing. you could understand that the harris campaign's argument here in the reason they might have wanted to make it an issue, it

was kind of confusing. it wasn't just 900 pages of policy prescriptions. there was this linkedin style of personnel database. these things taken together could have an oversized influence. this is a bit of a mixed blessing think tank wonks everywhere. this idea that they are getting attention, it's controversial as well. host: leonard, new york, independent line. caller: can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: i wanted to ask about the viewpoint of project 2025 and of the department of education, the changes and overhauls they are thinking about doing. what about those who want to do like a secondary education?

thank you. caller: it's a nine hut -- guest: it's a 900 page document, it's a lot to cover. in terms of project 2000 25, they want massive changes to the department of education. the prescription has been to abolish it. what we have seen from republicans and conservatives is that they are not fans of the biden administration forgiveness for student loans. i would expect additional forgiveness to end. host: after people voted and you look at exit polling at the end of the day, how did it look in terms of how people decided that how people decided they would vote for president? guest: it was an argument tailor-made for someone in the harris camp. someone who would not be persuaded by new conservative ideas.

project 2025 played really well over the summer. i'm thinking back to the democratic convention in chicago, kenan thompson walking on stage, the joke was that it was good for remaking the federal government and hurting small animals, right? it got a lot of laughs. why? the democratic faithful are already predisposed to dislike this sort of thing. if you are plugged into politics, you probably already know about the heritage foundation. if you are a swing voter in don't have the luxury of reading the new york times in the morning and cross-referencing it with the wall street journal, if you are a normal human being, project 2025 other than it floating around in the zeitgeist, it may not have landed with you. host: john, hello there.

caller: project 2025 reminds me of the line from the great gatsby, they break things up, hide their money, and let others clean up the mess. the department of education, pennsylvania, tom corbett, the governor, took 1.5 billion dollars from the department of education. he was only a one term, thank god for that. by the way, trump spent one fourth of his term on the golf course in the last election. i hope that the people remember that. sometimes when he talks, it sounds like he has the third stage of syphilis. host: we are going on to gilbert, then. ohio, independent line, you are next up. caller: good morning. first of all, i would like two questions answered. six days ago i heard the speaker of the house state that he is going to get rid of social security.

i would like to know the date of that, if you happen to know. first, the speaker said six days ago that he is going to get rid of health care in the first year. the last question i want to ask, do you believe that the upcoming president, trump, is going to give up his office after four years? that is what i would like to know. host: gilbert, ohio. guest: in terms of social security, republicans have not had a very good track record of reforming that entitlement. they have tried before and failed. i'm not a capitol hill repoll dirt -- reporter, but i don't think that he has plans to tackle social security. there have been discussions about returning to obamacare and, you know, republicans taking a closer look at that. we all know that they spent a

lot of their political capital in their first four years trying to repeal and replace obamacare and they did not succeed. to the last question about whether or not donald trump will leave office, well, he's going to have to, right? there is no second term, he is constitutionally limited. i will say that while the fabric of the nation was tested on january 6, there is no scenario where coequal branches of the legislature, the judiciary, were going to let him stay longer. i think that this time around, the way that they are operating currently, they are trying to make the most of these next four years, it's why the transition is moving quickly, hitting the ground running. he knows it is his last dance. host: the president will meet with the president-elect tomorrow at the white house. talk about that meeting.

its role in the transition process. guest: wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall of that room? i imagine the press will be able to come in at some point to shout if you questions at the president and president-elect. this is a historic moment. trump has not been back in the oval office since january 17 of 2021. he left and he didn't participate in those transition ceremonies and wasn't there for ever -- inauguration day. what i have been struck by in these last couple of weeks is this sudden era of good feeling. vice president harris quickly concedes, gets on the phone to congratulate donald trump. certainly, the president followed suit, invited trump to the white house. there's a lot of talk about unity. let's not forget, though, this was an incredibly divisive campaign. while they want to talk about unity, republicans and democrats now, they spent the better part

of 1.5 years calling each other essential threats to democracy. you had trump and harris calling each other fascist. i certainly think that all of us might want that rhetoric set aside, but let's not pretend everyone is feeling better all of a sudden. host: philip wegmann from real clear politics, joining us to discuss the white house. terry, good morning. caller: on the department of education, carter developed, as president, ordered it in 1979, we were first in the world in education, today we are 24th. really, what do we need it for. let's distribute the money to the states closer to the people with the caveat that if you decide you want to be a social engineering education, you don't get the money. as to the pipedream that the last reporters had on stating

that there would be all of this infighting in the house and senate, no. this was a mandate. the reason that there were fights in the house were because the laws they tried to bring up were not conservative enough. they knew it wouldn't get through the senate. there is no longer a problem there. i will also tell you that this idea that the senators will be able to hold up the bills? not at 53, they won't. if they use the filibuster too much, they will get rid of it. let's face it, if the democrats won, it was gone. host: what do you think? guest: let's take those in turn. with regards to the infighting, the caller raises an interesting point. in my conversation with senate republicans, they are of the opinion that whoever trump puts up for conversation and these cabinet positions, he's going to get it. that's an indication of just

what these guys are expecting. vice president harris was right in one regard. she said imagine him with no guard rails and there is not a lot of pushback from republicans currently. can you think of any anti-trump republicans in a position of prominence in congress right now? no. guy's like mitt romney, jeff flake, and others who were a burr in the saddle or threw a wrench in it last time around, they are not there anymore. trump didn't take control of the republican party as much as he tightened his grasp. allies in the senate and congress, he has a lot of political capital. we already heard reporting from susie wilde, the incoming white house chief of staff, she knows they have a very tight window, probably the year before the coming midterms, to get as much done as possible. to the point about the department of education, i think that elon musk and others made

this argument that the u.s. was once first in education and standards have fallen. certainly test scores are down. this type of conversation, it shows the trump on the floor nature. people are saying they want things to change in there is frustration among the conservative base that there is policy, be it education, immigration, or energy enforced. it doesn't seem to reflect the will of the average voter. host: we heard about the america first policy. what degree of influence will it have over this administration? guest: it's essentially a white house in waiting, that was their nickname the years after the first trump administration. they didn't leave washington,

d.c. when trump laughed, they just went down the street. they are led by the domestic policy head of the previous administration. they were distinct from project 2025. they didn't join the endeavor, but they did something similar. they got a lot of former cabinet heads and staffers, they said get to work. what will a second trump administration look like? heritage said they were ready to work with any republican and with staff loyalists. they were very much looking for a second trump term. host: joyce joins us from seattle. hello? hi? one more time for joyce. go ahead. caller: can you hear me now? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i heard on the radio, and i'm surprised it's not on tv or the news and that this

gentleman isn't saying it either yet, that biden had the opportunity to nominate judges and that the senate has, well, has the power to approve the judges that he nominates. controlling the democratic senate, they can do it. i forgot the term that they used, but take him out of session until he becomes president so that he can appoint the judges. that, biden has that power and the senate has that power as the current senate. i am tired of seeing all of the disruptions taking place. it's awful. guest: joyce raises a good

question. she might be overstating trump in the function of the senate but she's correct, you have republican saying wait a minute, there are federal judgeships open and seats that have yet to be filled. we don't want the biden nominees to be confirmed. so, you see senate republicans trying to slow that down. of course, this is majority leader's schumer's prerogative and he will be working overtime i think in these last 100 days or so to get as many confirmations as possible. you had better believe that republicans either through blue slips or through other parliamentary wrangling, they are going to fight him and try to keep as many of his judgeships open because one of the many big opportunities for many presidents is to remake that judiciary in a more conservative or liberal direction. host: one more call from

charlotte, north carolina, lisa, independent line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my phone call. on the project 2000 25 regarding the department of education, the crt on the elementary level, but on the collegiate level, teaching the groundwork of african-americans through the passage, why is it t you think they do that and why do they want to remove that part of history? guest: certainly no one pays me for my opinions are puts me in charge of education policy, but the caller raises an interesting point. there was a lot of animation from conservatives around questions of political race theory and conservatives will say no, a kindergartner is not

reading can really crenshaw at the korea -- collegiate level. -- kimberly crenshaw at the collegiate level, but their argument is that it is influencing u.s. education textbooks and that certainly you can see the influence that may be a student would see in middle school or high school and they are going to want to deemphasize that. i am not certain what specific policy the administration would have on this, but whoever trump puts as his education secretary, they are likely not going to privilege this sort of thing. again, a lot of individual policy curriculum will be decided by the states. these controversies that pop up and motivate the states, the question is -- all right, politicians were able to control the passions of voters, fundraiser on this and get out there and vote. now what are those politicians

going to do? how are they going to govern? host: have you heard any rumbling about who might serve as white house press secretary or communications? guest: something that impacts my life every day. we will be taking a closer look at the folks interacting on the campaign trail. steven cheung, caroline levitt. i don't know if they will want to be behind the podium. we know the trump, though, once someone who is died in the wool, maga warrior here, someone who can be aggressive. what was interesting about kaylee mackin t is that sean spicer came on board, was an old hand, professional guy. like many other folks, he was new to it. there's a similar dynamic with sarah huckabee sanders. but kaylee relished the fight.

she didn't walk in like a republican secretary and she sought as combat within audience of one. i would expect them to fit that mold. and are we going to have these daily briefings? we have had them every single day and it is important every single day. with the trump administration we saw the importance of the daily briefing lessening. when it wasn't a problem, his access was great, for those key decision-makers. host: philip wegmann, real clear politics, that's for you can find his work. thank you for your time. guest: pedro, thank you very much. host: open phones. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will take your calls and open forum in a moment. ♪ >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage in the halls of congress. from house and senate floors to congressional hearings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided, no commentary, no interruptions, completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio is easy. tell your smart speaker to play c-span radio and listen to "washington journal" daily.

weekdays, catch washington today. listen to c-span any time. tell your smart speaker to play c-span radio. c-span, powered by cable. joint book tv this weekend for the texas book festival, live from austin. coverage begins saturday at 11 a.m. eastern and sunday at noon. highlights include ray suarez with his book, we are home on immigration and the process of becoming an american. eliza monday discusses "sisterhood," life and the doj. glenn fine has his book, "watchdogs," on the role of inspector general. and elizabeth diaz with her book, "the fall of roe." the texas book festival on c-span two, to see the full schedule, visit our website.

>> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979 we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered view of government with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: in about a half-hour, may be less than a half hour from now, the gop leadership is expected to gather on the steps of capitol hill for a press conference, taking a look at the activities around what's left this year and talking about the election and what happens. should the house maintain republican control? that will be 10:00, this network

if you want to stay with us after the show, and you can follow along on our free app, c-span now and c-span.org. this is open forum. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. on this open forum, color, you are on, go ahead, please. caller: [echo] host: you will have to turn down that television, caller. caller: oh, ok. what i was wanting to discuss was everybody wanting to know what happened about the voting. everybody know what happened. trump and all them billionaires had their lottery, going where people can pay their money to hit the lottery to win a million dollars. that's the one thing. i wish they would quit trying to

accuse president biden and vice president harris of doing anything wrong. they done nothing wrong. they done exactly what they supposed to do. as far as the social security, i've worked on my job at 36 and more years. i put money into social security. didn't nobody give that to me. that's something i put in there. they say that trump going to run through it until it's broke. host: this is open forum. viewer, you are on the air. go ahead with your comment. hello. you're on, go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: i can, go ahead. caller: i noticed that in the race, republicans and democrats were pushing to win, pushing to win. we lost, the democrats won, i

mean the republicans won, but the horses are not the best ones who should be in office. host: who were the choices that you wanted? caller: well, i didn't want biden and i didn't want trump. i thought they were both too old. so, harris was the least of three evils? i really thought that -- democrats wanted to win, republicans wanted to win, but they didn't care about the horses they were running. guest: ok. indiana, republican line, guy. caller: thank you for taking my call. man, there is so much to digest over the results of the election. can you hear me? host: you are on, yes we can.

caller: i'm an independent and the reason i voted down ballot republican, the economy, the border, all of these mainstream reasons, but for me the biggest concern i have is all the gas lighting and the way that everything has become politically corrupt. for example, over the weekend i tuned in to the bbc and they had a liberal lady out there talking about the outrage in the travesty of trump. and the way that he handled the afghanistan withdrawal was a total with -- disgrace and that was biden. i'm so sick of the lies. trump, put in's puppet. the hunter biden -- hunter biden laptop is russian information and on and on. that's my reason for voting republican, to get the lying and the politics out. host: next from d, wisconsin,

independent line. caller: hi, i just have one question. i heard yesterday on the news that they are trying to make biden step down so that harris can take over the presidency for a month and a half. can they do that? is that really what, you know, what this election is all about, so she can step in for a month and a half and make him step down? host: when you heard that story, why did you react the way you did? caller: because it makes me really mad to. the presidency is not a game. they are making it a game. like she, so that she, like pelosi said, so that she can go ahead and have, so she can say she was president.

host: you are referencing a story that you heard, this is from the former communications director for harris, who made the unlikely suggestion that biden might resign, thought she offered on "state of the union," when asked what should be the top priority of the united states before trump begins a second presidency in january. "there is no indication that this would be considered, they said it could be his decision to briefly make her the president of the united states." "the guardian," picking up that story on sunday. georgia, next, mitchell, republican line. caller: hi. hey. i would like to take a different tack, something i read this morning on the internet from elon musk. i like the idea that they are

mably going -- maybe going to take a close look at dismantling the federal reserve. anyone in the know that has read anything about it knows that it's a cause i government agency that isn't really authorized under the constitution of the united states and violates it, in my opinion, the congress having the sole power to mint and coin money and establish the value thereof does not make it an international banking cartel that installed the federal reserve in 1913. if we look at the mistakes it has made during covid, money supply, interest rates, everything else, i would also maybe include in that inflationary thing the stimulus packages that were passed. anyway -- host: if it didn't exist, who should take over monetary policy? caller: the constitution says

the u.s. congress. host: ok. that's mitchell, georgia. the federal chair jerome powell last week and a news conference was asked if he would resign if the president-elect asked him to. here is his response. [video clip] >> some of the advisors of the president-elect have suggested you should resign. if he asked you to leave, would you go? >> no. >> can you follow-up? legally you are not required to leave? >> no. to follow up on victoria's question, do you believe the president has the power to fire or demote you and has the fed determined the legality of a president demoting at well you or any other governors? >> not permitted under the law. >> what? >> not permitted under the law. host: there was more there in

that press conference. check it out for yourself. our guests mentioned this in the first hour, but when it comes to fiscal issues and deadlines, lawmakers are discussing a temporary measure to fund the government into march according to people briefed on the discussion who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, giving the senate plenty of time to begin confirming president-elect's trump cabinet nominees and plot taxes without the threat of imminent government shutdowns or legislation where they would expire on the 20th and the proposed timeline works with the timing of the plan put forth by mike johnson. mike johnson is set to go before cameras at 10:00, 15 minutes from now, from the steps of the capital. we will bring you that press conference when it takes place. let's go to clyde in oklahoma.

democratic line. caller: hello? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: leopard don't change its spots. king james version, thank you. host: republican line, virginia. we will hear from jim. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to make several points, it's not a lot of time but i will be very clear. when president trump ran the first time, we heard these words , fake news. kind of puzzled me, what he was talking about. over the years i've realized exactly what he's talking about. now we know what the fake news is. i would like to know how the news media, and i am talking about the fake news media, will change. will they move back to treating

both candidates properly? there was so much negativity towards trump it was sickening. so much hate towards trump. we need to get back to where freedom of speech is exercised in a very responsible manner. that's all i have to say. thank you. host: missouri, democrats line, john, hello. caller: thank you for taking my call. coming from the administrative sheriffs association, i wanted to talk about immigration. first of all, i want to know how we are going to pay for housing and transportation and everything of these illegals when we are taking them into custody. we have gotten to the point where we refuse to take a lot of them because the cost-effectiveness on the immigration policy. that's my question. thank you.

host: (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents for the next 15 minutes or so. monique, georgia, independent line, good morning. caller: how you doing, america? i was calling, i was given information -- i'm a citizen of these united states and i can say that i've never voted. never voted. many around me have voted. some with charges that haven't been able to vote for whatever reason. my only concern with this election, even when trump began at day one, right? number one, for our generation, for all americans, people, let's face it, it's a good thing, right? it's a good thing because here we have a man of, as they say, respect of all countries, ok?

that being said, you know, the generation that's coming up now, they are way more advanced. they are business minded children. we can't keep our children, our youth, and a vox. they are way more advanced than we really are. if we can push our pride to the side and start dealing with more of the youth, like back in the day? i heard a young lady say it on another podcast, some of her best days were when bill clinton was in office. at that time in georgia it was tough for us. we had to get rid of all of those red dogs. dealing with a corrupt system. when i hear my people speak, i have three concerns. host: you put out a lot out there. patricia from oklahoma is next. hello. caller: thank you for taking my

call. the tradition of the transition between biden and trump is coming up quickly. it's been reported that trump had not yet signed an ethics agreement, due september 1. will he do that? when will that happen? host: ok. that is patricia there in oklahoma. about 12 minutes left in this open forum. to the point from the caller that she just made about the transition agreement, this was reported in many outlets, cnn as well, saying the ethics agreement required for the presidential transition has still not been signed. this was on the ninth, saying that the president-elect has not admitted to those in part because of concerns over the mandatory ethics pledge, vowing to avoid conflicts of interest when sworn into office as president. trump repeatedly came under fire for conflicts of interests

related to the businesses that he ran for him and his foreign businesses that came into intense scrutiny through his time in office and on the campaign trail. we might see this addressed in the days ahead. let's go to robbie in maryland. republican line. caller: hi, this is robbie. i want to know, why doesn't trump do anything about, about the people he's trying to go after? i've seen it on youtube, you know? he's trying to go after a bunch of mobs. i don't know what he was thinking, you know, it's dangerous, he knows they are going to come after him. i was wondering, what's his stance on the terrorists and all

of that, dealing with everyone? it's a mess right now. i know it's messed up. i wanted to know, is the president going to fix this? is he going to have peace? host: ok. that was robbie in missouri. the hill reporting this morning that gavin newsom is traveling to the nation's capital and is pushing to protect policies from trump following the victory. the democratic governor seeking a reimbursement for emergency funding and updates to the california medicaid program and other procedures from the biden administration. he's expected to return wednesday and will meet with the california congressional representatives. the trip to washington coming less than a week after issuing a proclamation to convene a special session of the state

legislature to safeguard policies around climate immigration -- climate and immigration. susan, san diego, independent line, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm really appreciative that you brought in the heritage foundation discussion. not just for this year, but 2016 as well. trump took that money, the endorsement and the plan, said he never even heard of it. talk about lies, he's the biggest liar. for him to say that he never heard of 2025 after he had been the speaker at the heritage foundation talking about the great mandate they may do? it's unbelievable that we are about to be a country that no longer has religious freedom and that is ridiculous. heritage is authoritarian, extreme right wing religious organization, and i we are stuck with it. host: why do you think we won't

have religious freedom anymore? caller: well, first of all, forcing it in schools, that's already happening. i don't see how we can have religious freedom when the people running our government are all from the same authoritarian extreme religion. its christian host: nationalism. that was susan -- it's christian nationalism. host: that was susan in san diego. florida, good morning. caller: in the constitution we supposedly have three equal but same branches of government to put in the checks and balances. does anybody truly believe that? do you really think the republicans in the house and senate will do anything to check him? or the courts, the supreme court who said he got immunity? host: republican line, joanne,

missouri. caller: hi, i have a really quick question. i'm curious why everyone is moaning and growing -- moaning and groaning about the illegal aliens in the country? how did they get here? we paid for their food, the airplanes, their lodgings. why isn't anyone saying anything about how they got here? how are they getting out? host: that was joanne there in missouri, giving us her thoughts. if you are interested in federal reserve policy later this morning, 10:00 on our network, c-span two, or companion network, it's a discussion with christopher waller on the cleaning house 2020 four annual conference to talk about monetary policy and possibly the election impact there. you can see it on c-span two, the c-span now app, and

c-span.org. we have been telling you and showing you house republican leadership holding a press conference. 10:00 is the slated times. you can see it right after this program. follow along if you wish, later on. as we look at the capital, let's hear from wade, kentucky, independent line. caller: the left calling trump a felon is a lot like oj calling nicole scarface. they caused it. one of the big factors is we will not allow america to become the soviet union. you can, you can indict political opponents, you can convict them. you can try to kill them, but we will not stand for it, we will not allow it. there's a lot of reasons, you know, to vote for trump and i'm ready for him to get to work and build a legacy.

we just won't stand for it anymore. host: in michigan, this is frank. democrats line. frank in michigan, hello? one more time for frank. caller: hello? host: ok, we will go to michael in nevada, independent line, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. in the near future, when the convicted illegal aliens are going to be removed and returned to their origin of country, some of these countries will refuse to take them. especially the murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and all of the, the fentanyl distributors. when they, when they, when the plane flies over that part of the country, if they refuse to

let the plane land, then the, it's an act of kindness, they should be given a parachute and asked to jump out of the airplane over their country and if they refuse, they should be taken and pushed out of the airplane. host: tom, baltimore, democratic line. caller: i'm 80 years old and i was hoping my country would do a little better than it has at this point. i've been working my whole life. the slaughter of working-class people in palestine and lebanon, those people are like people of my class. they are working-class people like me. i don't like to see either party support the slaughter of those people. that's what i have to say. thank you. host: press conference from the house, set to start shortly. joe, go ahead. caller: you guys got a

phenomenal show. thank you for it. what i wanted to say is that i don't understand -- i voted many years ago for mcgovern, which was a joke. i don't understand how this happened from when that man came down that escalator, how people could see what happened to this country and what they did to this country, i could go on and on. when you think about the talk on the media, it's all about the personality of president trump. not what he accomplished in office. as a democratic caller, can you please explain to me why you think that joe biden and kamala

harris was the best thing for this country as opposed to the donald trump personality? thank you. host: that's joe on the republican line. the house in the senate are back to work this week with activity on both sides as a way to keep close on what's happening. c-span, our main channel, covers the house. you can always follow along in the app. more is available on the website. c-span.org. another edition of "washington journal," coming your way at 7:00 tomorrow. in just a few minutes we hear from the house republican conference. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024]

>> a live picture of the steps of the u.s. capitol this morning as we are waiting for the start of a news conference with house republican leadership, the first since the election as congress returns to their first postelection legislative session today. the house is back at noon. speaker mike johnson will swear in two new members who won special elections to fill vacant seats in texas. members also today will consider several bills under suspension of the rules, including require election ballot envelopes to have tracking barcodes. also legislating preventing the irs from issuing fines and tax