♪ host: good morning. thursday, december 19. the bipartisan deal to keep the

government funded if passed tomorrow instead. president trump and elon musk came out against it yesterday. it included an additional $100 billion for areas affected by hurricane milton and helene. and the cost-of-living adjustment to lawmakers pay. the first half-hour, we get your thoughts on the looming funding deadline. here is how to call. republicans, (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. you can also send a text, (202)-748-8003. include your first name and city/state. and post your comments on social media, facebook.com/c-span and x at --@cspanwj. welcome to today's two hour "washington journal." the house plans to gavel and at

9:00 a.m. this morning read before we get to your calls, we will speak to aiden quigley, budget and appropriations reporter for cq roll call. good morning. caller: good morning. host: government funding runs out tomorrow at midnight. where do things stand right now on capitol hill? caller: right now, there is a lot of confusion, and i'm sorry to you when it comes to tomorrow night's spending deadline, in a way we have not seen since october of last year. kevin mccarthy lost his gavel, and we are against a deadline with no clear plan how to move forward. house leaders scrambled late last night because of the new plan after the president-elect and his advisor, elon musk, and the committee decided to kill

the bill. host: what is going on with the new request for raising the debt ceiling, can you explain? caller: that came out nowhere yesterday. it had not been a part of the spending talks, but jd vance sent a tweet that president trump wanted that app to be taken care of before he takes office. right now, the treasury is such a run out, which typically the party that is the minority uses that to get concessions so trump wanted that taken care of. and it is pretty difficult to see the situation and if that will be included in the stopgap spending bill. and we do need democrats in the senate to get on board. host: what is the likelihood of

an actual government shutdown? caller: i'm always an optimist when it comes to spending and working out a deal, but i think we are at least in the past few years, in uncharted territory here with the trump administration returning and the level of authority when it comes to at the president-elect would like. it is a little more clear about the divide, but it did not become that way until wednesday, right up until the deadline. at this point, we do have the christmas holiday lingering, and there is no clear path that this forward point -- point forward. host: you mentioned kevin mccarthy losing his gavel over a similar situation. what does it look like for mike johnson keeping the speakership? caller: we are still away from

january 3 from where i'm sitting, and there are some members who are upset about how this is handled, what as long as he maintains a supportive budget, i think you will end up continuing to be speaker at this point. it is definitely a lot harder now that it was a few days ago. host: explain how today and tomorrow play out. what are you watching and what is the process? caller: right now, we are waiting for signs from how speakership about with the next call will be. yesterday they had a 1500 page bill with 100 billion for disaster aid, 10 billion for farmers, a member pay raise, transferring ownership of the arcade city and back to d.c., on and on, many provisions. so house republicans right now

are trying to come up with a new plan that they think can get the support of the house. that said, democrats are pretty clear at this point, they are not on board, they had an agreement. that is what they wanted to go with, and it will be difficult to see how to move forward at this point. at the end of the day, we will have to wait to see what democrats decide to do and these deadlines are so close to christmas, which is really motivating them to get out of here. host: aiden quigley for cq roll call, you can find his work online. thank you for getting up with us this morning. caller: thank you. host: we will take your calls. our question for the first half-hour is your comments essentially on being 1.5 days away from a potential government shutdown, and we start with doug , ohio, independent. caller: --

good morning morning and merry christmas. i would like to say president musk and vice president trump have got it bad this time if you think about it. the only people who will suffer are the poor people in either one of them know what that is. and the congressman, the republican congress has got to learn how to speak for their own minds and not worry about getting primary every two years. these people are mckinley sick already and they are not even in office. host: eric, maryland, democrat. caller: good morning. i agree with the last caller. it is going to be more of the same. i think the government will get shut down to show their power, even if it is for a day. and it is. i think half of my friends who voted for trump, this will only hurt them.

anything that these billionaires will do is for themselves, and they will stop on the poor to get there, and i cannot believe that he won the popular vote and is compared to ronald reagan read it is shameful. i'm a veteran, i served seven years in the infantry. i'm shocked. i cannot believe that this man represents the christian national movement and has all these billionaires in his administration. i mean, trump on $23 million was homes, i'm just dumbfounded. i heard the news this morning driving to work and i'm dumbfounded. thank you. host: here is the republican line in ohio, justin. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't know what that gentleman is talking about with christian nationalism. silly comment. here's what i'm optimistic

about, speaker johnson figures out what is happening in the selection, he passes a spending bill and cuts government spending by 1%, sends it to the senate and the hospital his home and he tells chuck schumer that his job once, this senate is a joke. they don't pass budgets, have not passed a single appropriations bill. democrats are hell bent on disrupting america. host: would you like to see a clean cr so no additional funding, etc.? caller: our government is so bloated. what do they need for those additional things? they can cut defense spending. they can cut other departments to focus on important things that need funding. you don't need a clean anything. we need to stop deficit

spending. it is question americans and they are too ignorant to know what deficit spending is doing to the dollar. two emirate to know that the interest expenses on our debt will surpass the pentagon. people have got to be smarter about economics in this country. we have a massive financial literacy problem. host: let's look at what hakeem jeffries says, the democratic leader in the house. he made a statement to reporters last night saying essentially republicans are on their own. [video clip] >> senate democrats and republicans reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government and meet the needs of the american people. we need a bipartisan agreement to provide disaster assistance

to everyday americans who have been upended and have been turned upside down as a result, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and other types of extreme weather events. we reached a bipartisan agreement to meet the needs of the american people and provide assistance to farmers, families, children, seniors, veterans, men and women in uniform, and working-class americans. house republicans have no unilaterally decided to break a bipartisan agreement that they made. house republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday americans all across this

country. house republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the american people that results from a government shutdown or worse. an agreement is an agreement. it was bipartisan, and there's nothing more to say. [end video clip] host: that was later hakeem jeffries last night at the capitol. white, independent, california, good morning -- dwight, independent, california, good morning. caller: good morning. firstly, there is no such thing as a department of government agency. it is two private citizens who are walking around the nation's capital that are telling elected officials what it is that they're going to do, and that is

exactly what they are doing. as far as the government shutdown is concerned. the american people have spoken, so let it fly. let's see what happens. i'm 72. i've heard this government shutdown year after year. i think going probably all the way back to richard nixon probably,, go through this all the time. and every seasoned citizen, let it fly. let's see what happens. this is with the american populace voted for. they are going to shut the government down, and they also spoke of raising the debt ceiling, so we know there will be more spending and more spending and more spending, and we are going to get what we voted for. when i say we, i'm speaking the majority of the american electorate wanted this. so we have what we have. thank you so much. host: patty, pennsylvania,

democrat. caller: just wanted to say that i do not vote for either. trump is owned by elon musk. he gave him hundreds of millions of dollars, and so now he owns the republicans. these oligarchs that are now running our country, people are going to protest. if they shut this government down, friends of mine were saying we will never vote again anymore republicans in office. if you remember what donald trump said, that if he gets into office, he promised his christian nationalists that they would never have to vote again, so if they shut down the government this time, i think there will be a real uprising. thank you.

host: gina, alabama, republican. caller: hi, mimi. m i coming in clear this time? host: yes, go right ahead. caller: happy holidays and happy new year. i only get to call every 30 days. number one, i'm the one who always calls about them double giving, rating agencies and then getting the budget and spending it forgetting the whole budget and spending it in six months, but number two, i would like to mention that the good news is that the national defense operation act did get past and my son and his buddy are on active duty, and they just made it in at 5:15 this morning. so glad to have sets of boots in

the house for christmas. another thing is i agree that we shared shut it down, but i would like to reassure social security recipients, federal employees that are retired and everything, you are not going to miss a check. they don't need to be scaring the old people that they are not going to get there social security, and you have a wonderful, blessed day. host: as gina said, the senate to pass the 895fill with cbs nes staying with controversial gender affirming care restrictions, it says this was approved yesterday on wednesday, despite concerns from democrats over a controversial policy restricting gender care for children and servicemembers.

the vote was 85-14. the senate approved, which the house passed last week. 11 democrats and three republicans voted against it in the upper chamber cannot heads to the president's desk for his signature. jason, alabama, independent. good morning. caller: good morning caller. first, i appreciates like gina. i really do -- i appreciate callers like gina, i really do, just putting the cards on the table and say, i would like the government to be shut down. we live in a state dependent on federal dollars. the budget of alabama is like 30 to 40% based on federal funds, and then gina calls and says, hey, shut down the government and turn off that 30% to 40%, and they what are we going to do? it speaks to what others are

talking about, this is not going to happen, that is going to happen, trump is a liar, blah, blah. republican voters wanted from to be able to sit on his couch at mar-a-lago and run congress, call them percent on the border bill, the bipartisan border bill just to tell mike johnson what to do because mike johnson is the least experienced figure in the history of speakers, so he's going to do whatever trump tells him because that is what his caucus would like to do. there voters would like them to be there, they don't want them to be productive at all. i do not want the government to shut down because you cannot guarantee what is and is not going to happen because the money from the federal government funds a lot of things. and it would make sense for them to do their job and pass the budget, but the republican

voters do not want that to happen, and i appreciate when they come out and just say it instead of trying to hide it. host: let's take a look -- this is president-elect trump and vice president-elect vance's statements, posted on x day at says increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we would rather do it on biden'watch. if democrats will not cooperate now, what makes anyone think they would do in june during our administration? let's have the debate now, and we shoulpa a streamlined spending bill that does not chuck schumer and the democrats everything they would like. republicans would like to support farmers and set our untry up for success at 2025. only way to do that is with without democrat giveaways. combined with an increase in the debt ceiling, anything else is a betrayal of our country. susan, tennessee, democrat.

caller: a lot of people said what i wanted to say, actually. i don't know if anybody remembers trump shut the government down for the longest in history last time, and i swear, i heard them say they wanted to give themselves a raise. is that real? host: yes. as part of the deal that has died, that was a cost-of-living increase for lawmakers. that is correct. caller: they have not done anything. what do they need an increase for? we are not getting increases. i found a good app called good unites us, and it shows exactly who funded trump and musk, and

who i'm going to boycott. it is a good app. man, i just pray we get through this clown show. thank you. host: eugene, georgia, independent. good morning. caller: good morning and merry christmas and best for the new year. host: thank you. youtube. caller: instant replay again. trump asked him this before and now he is doing it at the very last minute. just squeeze. it is just rotten. rotten and making everything cheap even though we are paying more. just cheapening everything. it is sad. thank you and all the best. host: alan, new york, democrat.

caller: good morning. thank you for the time. trump has interest in cryptocurrency as a policymaker and investor, and cryptocurrency is a currency that benefits when the u.s. economy and leadership in the world is viewed more friendly, so there's nothing like mckinley united states more friendly than having these shutdowns which is the definition of dysfunction. trump also has an interest in pushing whatever decline in the economy may occur. so causing the government shut down now will benefit them by allowing them to see in the next campaign, become much better things are during our term than the other years, biden now has an excellent economic record

going through the last few weeks , and it causes the last weeks to look worse, but the bigger picture here to me is what i saw on russian television experts a few weeks ago, commentators were laughing at the prospect that all these incompetence were being appointed and they said that if the senate allows them to be approved, then it will be wonderful for russia because they will dismantle america brick by brick from within. why can't we see what they are seen? these appointments are being made to help trump and putin by making us look full of fooli ands that is not our goal is americansh. host: carol, democrat. -- earl, democrat. caller: i don't know what people don't see yet trump's gang. they are all liars, crooks, and

you can see it through the tv, elon musk, vivek ramaswamy. you can see. i'm from the streets of philadelphia. you could see he is a liar, cheat and crook, they all are. and worked as the maga crowd get out of this? because easy christian nationalist. he does not know how to read a bible. what is his favorite verse? he cannot come up with a verse, everybody could come up with john 3:16. he couldn't even. trump is a bad, bad dude. all i can hope for is the vice president gets to his senses in a couple of months or a year or whatever and kick some out of office. because i think we would do

better with bands than trump -- with jd vance than trump. trump is an evil, evil person and all he cares about is the big bucks. he don't care if he hurts joe as an 80-year-old person collecting social security, he does not care if he has some living in the woods or the street. he is a host: no good man. lee, republican, michigan. hello. caller: good morning. i hope you are doing well and merry christmas. host: to you, as well. caller: i did hear the caller talk about the pay raise. let's not forget roy trump also said he does not agree with that payraise either. i really, you know, i cannot believe that so many people are so destroying the guy. they cannot understand that he

is our president still. he has been elected, and there are reasons he has been elected because people are sick and tired of how our country has been ran the last four years. joe biden has run it into the ground. host: let's focus on the funding deadline, tomorrow at midnight. were you in favor of the bipartisan deal that was constructed with the continuing resolution or against it? caller: i'm not for it, let the government shut down. host: sorry, i did not mean to cut you off. i heard you say we have too much spending. how long would you be ok with a government shutdown? caller: as long as it takes to get it right because it is obviously not right now. host: if we could get it right right now, what we would need to do? caller: if i was an economics, i

could tell you better but one thing we can do is stop giving other countries so much money. and the other thing is take care of our own citizens. our citizens in our streets are struggling, whether chicago, california, new york, with the migrant crisis. how much money have we been port bellying into that? and how much of the covid money was actually used? there are a lot of questions that should be answered. host: let's talk to ralph, republican also in virginia, good morning. caller: good morning to you, merry christmas and happy new year. i appreciate you taking my call. trump has not put us in this position, the democratic party, biden, hasbrouck the bank. that partisan bill that was signed into law for social security fairness is crap and

we've been passed over for years. i lost $130,000 because this bill was passed, and i'm telling you, they have so much budgetary spending and so forth that this country is not going to survive, and they keep kicking the can down the road. this is the point no, the government is going to shut down, which they thought was going to survive, but it is not going to survive unless the congressman in the senate work together and try to iron this thing out what they have done. they had kicked the can down the road so many years. we have got to get this budget balanced and so forth, and biden is being vindictive, and the only thing he is doing to bring trump into office to inherit his mass. host: richard, new york, independent. good morning. caller: yes, thank you for

taking my call. i feel that it has been going on too long. caller the last -- the last caller you had, i cannot believe the money we are going to lose. i mean the pork belly, you can say everything. they don't list anything that falls into the pork belly. that is just the tip of the iceberg. they steal for five cents on the dollar. how about cutting have off the workforce in washington or how the senators and congressmen take a big cut in their paycheck. host: richard, you are going in and out but we got your point. after the break, we talked to two lawmakers about the chaotic final hours of the 118th congress with tomorrow's government funding deadline

for first is mark alford of missouri, and al green of texas. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv, saturday on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend at 2:00 p.m. eastern at the battle of the bulge, the national world war ii museum in new orleans host a conference focusing on the battle. it discusses allied intelligence, air operations and stories of her was him during the battle. at 8:00 eastern, american history tv takes you on a tour of an interactive exhibit featuring artifacts, stories from white house staff, and a

full-scale replica of the oval office. after that, we present a c-span documentary presenting a tour and interviews with barack and michelle obama during their time at the executive mansion, exploring the american story. watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span2, and find their full proam or watch any time at c-span.org/history. >> are you a nonfiction book lover looking for a new book cast -- podcast? tune into one of the many c-span has to offer. on "q&a," you will listen to people on subjects that matter. learn something new on book notes plus through conversations with nonfiction authors and historians. afterwards, we have influential interviewers for hour-long

conversations. and on about books, we talk about the business of books with news and interviews about the publishing industry and nonfiction authors. find our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> 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 balance, unfiltered view of government, taking you to where policy is decided. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by representative mark alford, republican of missouri, on the armed services

committee and the agriculture committee. welcome. guest: thank you. host: what is the latest on this cr and tomorrow night's federal spending deadline? guest: i'm sorry we got to this point to begin with. had we gotten the 12 appropriation bills out of the house and over to the senate, we may not be here. we were successful getting five out of the house, and all 12 of the appropriations committee was an improvement from last year. we have got to get back to remaining -- regular order. we cannot get the remaining passed in her own conference. so now we are here after continuing resolution before the election. we do not want a government shutdown before the election. i thought that would put president trump in jeopardy of losing the election, and now we will hear on december 20, facing a possible government shutdown.

we cannot afford a government shutdown. i'm not in favor of one, but i'm also not in favor of bloated spending. this deal was cobbled together by mike johnson, who i believe was doing the best he could. we needed relief for our farmers, and we have 87,000 in missouri, and many of the farmers are going out of business. we are losing 1000 farms a month in america, and because of the high input cost, i think it is directly attributable to this president, president biden and his ministrations, the war on fossil fuels. high input costs have driven a lot of farmers out of business in the low commodity prices. we have suffered through droughts in many communities, and in my district in particular, we are d4, the most severe level of drought for four years in a row, and with farmers going out of business, we needed the money for our farmers so

they could get the insurance they need and the loans from the banks. the banks are very skittish about loaning to people who cannot pay them back, as they should be. host: right now, the farmers will not get that money. the people waiting for disaster relief from the hurricane are not getting the money. guest: but that is what is put in the bill -- host: clear against it? guest: no, i was for this to put in the package, and a one-year extension of the farm bill in total, but the problem is when mike johnson went to negotiate the bill, the democrats wanted something in exchange because they did not want to just help the farmers. i don't know why. we don't see food security as national security. they don't see the issue and losing 1000 farms a month in america. host: what were some of the things the democrats wanted to put in this? guest: this payraise, which i think is stupid. i heard some of your callers

today, very intelligent, why do we disobey pay raise? we have not had a cost-of-living adjustment in 16 years, and i know some are upset about that, but we have got to do our job first and show the american people that we are on their side. host: what is it that is stopping you from doing your job ? why weren't the bills taken care of a long time ago. guest: people have put up roadblocks surpassing them. they passed out of committee in a bipartisan manner, and we got five done on the house board. for instance, the agate appropriations bill, we will be working on this next year. there are some in our conference who don't believe in what they call subsidies. we call the safety nets for farmers, the crop insurance and the other programs, and without those, they cannot get the loans they need to operate, so there

are some in our conference who believe farmers should act like any independent business and they should not have any help from the federal government, so they would not vote for theag appropriations bill -- vote for the ag appropriations bill. that's one example. host: elon musk was tweeting furiously yesterday against the deal, even before president trump commented on it and said that essentially there should not be any voting until january 20. how do you react to that? guest: that's troublesome because if we wait until january 20, we have not cleared the deck for president trump to do his job. there are things we have to do now, the reconciliation process, which is technical for some at home, and basically the senate was able to pass things related to a budget pattern and send it over to the senate and we only need a simple majority rather than 60 votes.

host: a few of our callers talked about the enormous power that elon musk has and how he has said clearly that he will put his recourses, which are considerable, against any lawmaker and primary them if they go against president-elect trump policies. how do you react to that? does that concern you? guest: it is a little bit. i respect what fever grandma shami and elana -- vivek ramaswamy and elon musk are doing third we are looking at every cut we can make. i can give you example after example, especially in the snap program, the foodstamp program, $34 million a day, but, we have got to make sure that we as elected representatives are voting for our district and our conscience. and we would also like to follow

president trump, he is the leader of the maga movement and america first. and i mean let's make a strong first so we can help others. host: you would vote your conscience, even if it is against president -- future president trump? even if that means you would get primary but elon musk -- guest: i'm in alignment with president trump, and we need to hear from him. i was asking his staff yesterday what -- how does president trump feel about the continuing resolution? we thought we might not get an answer but now he has given us one, and i'm in alignment. we need a clean cr with few things attached. president trump deals like -- we have got to have aid for the people who are suffering and living in tents right now in asheville, north carolina, who

have been adversely affected by the hurricane. i was just there last month, and i have seen the devastation. we need disaster aid and economic security aid for our farmers. host: if you would like to join our conversation with mark alford, you can. lines are by party, republicans on (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independent, (202)-748-8002. an article on the hill says the house republican, which is you, medicare and social security for cuts. are you willing to cut those? guest: no. well, defined cuts. anyone who is currently on social security right now or is paying into the system, actively working in the u.s., paying into social security, we should not touch that at all. i didn't interview earlier last

week talking about long-term and on the front-end. if people are living longer, should we talk about moving the retirement age back? because social security is going to be insolvent within 10 years if we do nothing. i think it needs to be scored differently and may be a 30 year outlook for social security by the cbo, but we have got to make adjustments if people are living longer and retiring later. that makes sense to the average common, reasonable, rational person in america, but, no, we should not cut any benefits to anyone on social security or pain into the system. that is a contract they have with the federal government. they have put this money in, and they expect to get what they deserve. host: let's talk to callers on the line for democrats. joe, she can. good morning. -- joe, michigan.

good morning. caller: first, with the representative said on the war on fossil fuel, i believe we are producing more fuel in the united states now under biden that we ever did under trump. i believe that c-span has read articles to that point. i also believe that we have done really well under president biden, and from what president biden was left, you cannot really compare what president biden was left to what our former president trump left. president biden is the only president i'm aware of was elected into his term of office during a pandemic.

so you cannot compare what he did to any other president because president biden is the only president that was put in such a situation. guest: sir, i appreciate your passion for the current administration and president. i don't share that passion or viewpoint that the energy sector was doing better under biden. it is very clear that even before president biden took the oath of office, he signaled to the fossil fuel industry that he would shut down drilling in some parts of america, shut down the federal leases on sunland, and oil is a commodity. when president trump left office four years ago, the price of gas in my neighborhood was $1.78 a gallon. it shot up during the biden

administration to well over five and six dollars a gallon in some parts of our nation. let tell you what happens to our farmers in my district and state. fertilizer is made from petroleum products. that increases the cost of the fertilizer and increases the input cost for our farmers, and that is why a lot of them were not able to do business and not able to make a reasonable profit to stay in business. yes, this president, president biden pretty much declared a war on fossil fuels because of the climate change concerns he has. i believe a lot of that is a hoax. we can get into that later, that's a larger topic, but as far as i'm concerned, i cannot wait. trump says drill, baby, drill. yet, we are going to open up pipelines, start fracking again. we are going astray drilling in places where we should be responsibly for our environment

and also for the american people. host: ron, illinois, republican. good morning. caller: yes, how are you doing? one of the problems our government has, it is common sense. if they were just past the resolution with nothing but clean bills, if you guys titled it something else, i'm a republican, i think we are in great position and don't know where president biden is that right now, but we just had clean bills, the title of the bill, that is it, that would be a lot less headlock in our government and we can get something done. it is all hidden, and that is why people vote against it. but then you say [indiscernible]

guest: thank you. you are right. that is why we returned regular order two years ago under the leadership of kevin mccarthy, and they made it a point that we would go to single subject bills. every bill has to go through the rules committee before it hits the house floor, and they make sure the subjects are germane, so you can attach something crazy to a bill right now. there are bills that have not gotten on the house floor and there are amendments that they have wanted to offer to certain bills and democrats and republicans who have not hidden it -- hit it on the bill because they cannot manage it. they go to the rules committee and it is determined what type

of debate will be on the house floor. then it goes to the house floor, so it is important we have single subject bills, and that is why these continuing resolutions with things attached that have nothing to do are so upsetting to us and to ask the american people, and we have got to get that right. thank you for that comment. st we have a text from illinois, the house intended to shut down, just not during the elections because it would have affected terms campaign. sound like -- trump's campaign, sounds like trump first, not america. guest: i appreciate that, and if i misspoke, that is on me. we do not want to shut down. i don't care if it is before or after an election or christmas. it is not good for our troops, number one.

80,000 personnel go through there each year, they were not get paid until after the shutdown is over. i typically what happens in the past is immediately, the national parks put up signs around washington, on c-span, other places, and republicans get blamed for the shutdown. it is never the schumer shutdown. a lot of default lies at his feet for the transit since in the senate. they did not come back with any serious farm bill until well or late in the game, like this fall. our chairman was trying to get a deal done, and here we are, no farm bill. host: you said several times you don't want the government to shut down, are you confident in the day and a half you have left

that you will be able to get a deal and get it passed the senate and to the president? guest: i'm not in leadership or in top-level discussions. i know mike johnson -- our speaker does not want government shutdown. host: but he also wanted the deal. guest: so now you have to start over and here's the problem, had begun through a clean cr without the added things for our group culture and disaster relief, which we need, i wish the democrats would see that. we both need that for the survival of america. host: is that what you do, say here is to clean cr plus 100 billion for disaster, 10 billion for farmers and that is it? guest: if i were in leadership because those are the most important things right now. host: you think president-elect trump would agree? guest: no, i think he would.

it makes sense. host: without the debt limit increase he's asking for. guest: the debt limit is another issue. you could handle that before he gets in office, and that is why we are saying we will be working day one. they already told us to stay over the weekends. that is what he is saying, i believe, but there is time to do that. first and foremost, we have got to make sure that our farmers are taking care of and are disaster victims are taken care of. that is what it is all about. host: bill, tennessee, independent. caller: good morning. i'm trying to get congress to question ever since 2006, trying to tell him [indiscernible]

would help the u.s. a whole lot by giving the u.s. more money to work with a pair national debt off, and we would put a lot more people back to work, dropping the unemployment rate for the united states. i don't know what else to say. host: we will get a response on a lottery. guest: i assume he lives in tennessee. he is a friend of mine. i will give him that message on the house for today and see if his staff can find the correspondence and get back to you. i know he cares about his constituents. host: also in tennessee, steve, democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to wish everybody a merry christmas, happy hanukkah, and i have an issue with congress this year. it is about the farm bill. the fact is, i lived in north carolina for 45 years.

i saw two families become multimillionaires off of subsidies. i don't get that, but let's hope the farmers, but let's cut snap, so which is it? would you like to help the farmers? i understand. and one question, did you sign norquist a promise not to raise taxes? guest: yes, i did, early on. i don't believe in raising taxes. we don't have a revenue problem in america, we have a spending problem. as far as families go with farming, there are all levels. yes, some are wealthy and have thousands of acres in their family farms that they have grown over the years, accumulating land and have many members of their family and

other employees. they are employers and small businesses, yes. the average sized farm, though, is around 500 acres. but there are some farmers who are farming 100 acre farms, 200, and then there are sharecroppers. yes, there are efforts and the average price for an acre of land in our district is about $20,000. so when you have a 300 acre farm , that's a lot of money. when it comes to snap, we need to provide under the farm bill with the aid for our farmers, the conservation programs, but, we are adding $295 million to the supplemental nutritional system program. democrats say there are cuts. we are tightening the boards for snap, but we have also got to go

after the waste of abuse and fraud in the system. $34 million a day. i asked the secretary of ag, who was before our committee this past year, if we go after waste and distribution fraud, aesthetic cut to snap? it is on record, on video, he said, no, it is not. because that means more aid for families who are in need. i believe that as blessed as we are, we should be helping those out who truly cannot work, but snap should not be a lifestyle, it should be a life vest that is temporary, supplemental, and it should be nutritious. let me tell you one more thing about snap. know the number two thing but with snap right now? sugary drinks, $4 billion a year . our obesity rate in america is 40%, much higher with snap families.

american taxpayers are subsidizing the obesity crisis in america, which is putting pressure on medicare and medicaid, so we have got to get nutrition back in the program. we have got to make sure that people who are truly hungry and cannot work, we are helping them out. host: rod, new york, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question about the payraise. i'm wondering why they would like a pay raise one half of congress are millionaires, and when they leave after a 10 year career in the house or senate, they are 25% richer. they are 20 times more wealthy than the people they represent. i cannot see the payraise when all they do is yell and scream at each other and will perform for us. guest: very good point. i tend to agree with you, sir. let me walk you back for history, i make $174,000 a year,

i believe senators make the same, the most money from a paycheck i ever made in my life, and there are two types of people in washington, likely, where this is the most money they have ever made, and then millionaires who more or less contributed their own campaigns to get here. i did not do that. i went to the people of who i'm going to represent to help me get here, so when we get here, there is a lot of intransigence in our system, so it is hard to justify, even though we don't have a cost-of-living adjustment in 16 years, it is set up in appropriation spots where we should be making the same as federal judges, somewhere between 235 and 240 $5,000. i don't think we deserve that right now. what this is doing, and it is not a 40% payraise, and they are not going back and reclaiming

that money and bumping the salary of $245,000, it was for one year, a cost-of-living adjustment, 2.8%, which is about $6,000 but i don't think we deserve that. i don't think we even need to be approaching the topic of a pay raise for us until we get america back on track. that is part of america first. we are servants here, and we have got to remember that. we are here for the public to be their servants, their voice and their vote in washington. host: congressman, elon musk tweeted out, "how could this be called a resolution if it includes a 40% pay increase for congress?" as you explained, that is not true. guest: i don't know where he was getting his information, we did research on this. we looked at this, this is for a one-year cost-of-living adjustment at 3.8%. if you went back to all those

years, yes, it would be 40%, and maybe that is what he's talking about. host: he has gone over 200 million followers on x, something like this going out -- guest: we got many calls to our office, and some good friends said, what the heck are you doing? they did not use the word heck, giving yourself a 40% payraise? they said they got it off x. sometimes you get things mixed up in the passion of the moment, and people are passionate about this, but i'm big on facts, and i would like to get it right. host: frank, california, democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for your service. i appreciate it. i would like to get back to the basics. i live in california, and i know this affected my family. i did 20 years in law

enforcement, and it does affect people. and sometimes you don't understand that. everyone would like a little bit of something, but the bottom line is, the people who serve u.s. government employees, they get affected really bad because they don't get a paycheck. this seems like it is ongoing all the time because both sides of the aisle cannot get along with a cannot come to a reasonable agreement. well, that is the reason why i did not vote this year for a president at all because we need to get down to the basics. let's take care of basics and if we have to do a separate bill, let's do it, we have to keep the government going because people depend on paychecks. let's come to an agreement because we need to keep the government funded, and i'm sure you will can work things out. agriculture, i'm familiar with

it. sir, please, let's get on the floor and take care of business. and let's avoid this government shutdown. thank you. guest: i appreciate your service through your federal employment here. one of the issues we have with it being pointed out, and i pointed a doubt when i wanted to go inside the two euros that we have on the ag committee and the small business committee, i wanted to visit go to the usda. they would not let us in the building. we introduced the congressional act of bureaucratic offices saying that members of congress can go in the buildings and we later find -- found out the reason they did not want us in there because governor workers are not at their desks and now it is starting to come out and i tried to bring this up in the news and no one really attached

to it as a story, but it is a fact that down the road you can almost see it from this building we are in, united states department of agriculture which has 2 million square feet of office bas. it is a beautiful building, i have heard but i cannot get inside. six people -- 6% of the people are working there any given amount of time. there are people who work successfully from home and that is -- and on they are not and that is why our congressional offices are being flooded daily with constituents, taxpayers, republicans, independent, democratic and politically agnostic. the government is holding onto their money, veterans benefits, social security and irf refunds and not giving them their services because they do not have a number to call to get someone live on the phone. they call our office and we are

able to be problem solvers for them. it should not be that way. we have to treat people more like clients instead of second-class citizens. host: we are almost out of time but i want to ask you about your colleague, congressman loudermilk who says he is in favor of the fbi investigating former representative liz cheney over her involvement in the january 6 committee. what do you think? caller: i think he is onto something. i met with him and he released a report out of his committee about the whole january 6 debacle that the national guard was not called and although trump wanted them. they stayed two miles away and did not come in. it is all on record through testimony. i think we need -- look, you need to get this right and the committee that was held before i got here was not the right way to do it. nancy pelosi kept people off

which would have helped bring about the facts. do we not want the facts and truth. host: she kept democrats off? caller: kept republicans like jim jordan and hand selected the two republicans on the committee to make it so called bipartisan. the truth has not come out on january 6. i do not know if america has the appetite and some feel like we need to move on. i kind of feel that way but if we do not get this right and the facts come out like the representative is trying to extract, then this could happen again. and we do not need that in america. host: representative mark harris -- mark all forward, a representative from missouri. coming up it is open forum. we will take your calls right after this break. the numbers are on your screen. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002.

later we are joined by al green of texas and we will talk about the debate over federal spending and where the democratic party went wrong in this year's elections. we will be right back. ♪ >> ahead of the presidential inauguration on january 20, american history tv on c-span2 presents a four week series, historical inaugural speech is. each weekend listen to inaugural speech is from franklin roosevelt to barack obama. on saturday, december 28 we will feature president roosevelt. >> the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. >> president harry truman. >> i believe that the whole

country will abandon their delusion. >> and president dwight eisenhower. >> we sense those faculties that forces of good and evil are massed, armed and opposed as rarely before in history. watch historic inaugural history saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern beginning saturday, december 28 on c-span2. >> for over 45 years c-span has been your window into the workings of art -- of our democracy watching -- offering live congress, open forum programs and live access to decision-makers who shape our nations without government funding. c-span exists for viewers who value transparent, no spin political coverage and your support keeps our mission alive. and as we close out the year we are asking you to stand with us.

your gift goes 100% toward supporting c-span's work ensuring that longform, in-depth and independent coverage continues to thrive in an era where it is needed more than ever. visit c-span.org/donate or scan the code to make your tax-deductible contribution today. to that -- together we can ensure that c-span remains a trusted resource for you, and future generations. >> washington journal continues. host: it is open forum. a few things to update you with this news happened yesterday from "the new york times." the house panel is voted -- has voted to release the gaetz report after it has completed legislative business for the year and after they have left washington to return to their districts. former representative gaetz put out a statement. it says "in my single days i

often set funds to women i dated aneven semi-never dated but who asked? i dated several of them for years. i never had sexual contact with someone under 18. any claim that i have would be destroyed in court, which is why nouc cla w ever made in court. my0's were an era of working hard and playing hard. but at least i didn't vote for cr's that f-ed over the country." that is former representative gaetz and we are taking your calls starting with samuel in chippewa falls, wisconsin. independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i was wondering with these continuing resolutions if speaker johnson would commit to the new congress to go back to regular order. parliamentary procedures so we do not have this 10 ewing

resolution troubles every year. host: this is al in fitzgerald, georgia. republican. good morning. caller: they need to be held accountable for this. i mean, it has been nothing but a mess the whole time. all the way to the white house. somebody's -- thank you. host: rick in hayward, wisconsin. independent line. thank you. caller: i wanted to say going back to the last guest and i just tuned in a short time ago so it has probably been said. i am against the pay raise. they have to attach it to the performance of the deficit or something like that where if there is a problem maybe they should take a pay cut.

and if they do their job than they should ask for a pay raise. it should be based on performance. it is like they are trying to sneak in something under the radar. as far as matt gaetz goes, i used to think he was a mean slb i will say this he would have been perfect for the attorney general job because that is the type of person we need in there. that is all i have. thank you very much. host: jail in new york, new york. republican. hello. jill? yes. caller: hello. i would like to ask that senator from missouri if he is aware of the fact that petroleum products are -- and if that is what they are looking into fertilizer especially in light and the fact that we have problems with children in school. that is what i have to say. thank you. host: david in clinton township,

michigan. the democrats. morning. caller: i have a lot of exceptions with representative alford. he said biden shut down every pipeline and a bunch of pipelines and he only shut down the keystone pipeline. that is the only one that got shot down. there are 100 47 other pipelines transporting oil all over this country. that is completely incorrect. and he was talking about the price of gas being under two dollars. $1.97. that was because we had a shut down. there was a lockdown and no one driving. and if you understood the simple mechanics of supply and demand there was no demand for oil so the cost went down a lot. and then it went back up when we started driving again and when the economy picks up.

it is things like that that he said where just complete falsehoods to the point of being propaganda. and people are believing that. that is why we have a lot of problems. that is the source of division right there. that man and that kind of propaganda talk. thank you. host: tim in new york. independent. hello. caller: how are you doing? good morning. the fellow that just talked took all of my thunder. i would like to add that i wish one of your congressmen would talk about social security like your previous guests he started saying it was part of the budget and he would have to cut social security. and ronald reagan himself said that social security has nothing to do with the budget. that is money taken from workers and money employers pay into it. if they want to raise it they should take the cap off of it instead of being 175. let people pay social security

up until $250 that would be $50,000 a year. that should make social security fine for years and years. host: i will ask our next congressmen. al green will be with us in about 20 minutes so i will ask him as well. caller: thank you. host: jerry in lindsay, california. republican. good morning. caller: good morning this is terry. host: not jerry. go ahead. caller: ok. i want to say a couple of important things. i believe we as a country we need to stay united and not divided. that is the first and foremost. and i just really wish that there would be help with -- for people who genuinely need help

because there really are and i really hope that the media in general would get things correct when they use the word immigrants and they have a conflict telling them not exactly what they are. they should be calling them illegal immigrants. there is a big difference between the two. there are people who come here the right way and the wrong way. i just hope that we can come together as a nation and look past our differences and be more united. thank you very much. have a good night. host: this is the federal reserve chair jerome powell announcing a rate cut yesterday. the fed cut interest rates by .25%. [video clip] >> longer-term inflation expectations appeared to remain well anchored as reflected in a

broad range of surveys of households, businesses and forecasters as well as measures from financial markets. the median protection -- rejection for total inflation is 2.4% this year and 2.5% next year, somewhat higher than september. thereafter the meeting projection falls to the 2% objective. our monetary policy actions are guided by the dual mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the american people. we see the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals as roughly in balance and we are attentive to the risks on both sides of the mandate. at today's meeting, the committee decided to lower by a quarter percentage point to 4.25%. we have been moving to neutral to maintain the strength of the economy in the labor market while establishing -- enabling

further progress on inflation. with today's action we have lowered the policy rate by a full percentage point from its peak and the policy stance is now significantly less restrictive. we can therefore be more cautious as we consider further adjustments to the policy rate. we know that reducing policy restraint too fast or much could hinder progress on inflation. at the same time reducing restraint too slowly or too little could weaken economic activity and employment. in considering the extent and timing of additional targets, the committee will assess incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks. we are not on any preset course. [end video clip] host: eugene in grantville, georgia. democrat. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. my goodness, i thought georgia

had the worst congressperson with marjorie taylor greene but that cat -- as far as january 6 that he brought up. we saw what happened. i watched it on c-span, the station that he was on which gives credibility to c-span, so i take that c-span did a good job. i do not need an investigation. we should have been having a criminal investigation and we all know who should have been charged with it. and the system that we have for it. when we quit holding our leaders to the same standards that we hold one another, we no longer have a country. thank you and have a good day. host: isaac in maryland. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just want to say that i am having real difficulty when it

comes to the conversation about my country unifying and coming together when you have are elected officials -- unelected individuals like elon musk having any say in our budget it makes no sense to me. no one elected him, no one voted for him. and if i'm understanding, he had a text chain conversation with mike johnson and tweeted about how he did not like the bill and then a couple of hours later donald trump said i do not like it either in the bill was dead. now, all the republicans who voted for donald trump understand what just happened. a bipartisan bill to fund our government that has funding for hurricane relief for the survivors of hurricanes, also had additional funding for farmers, bipartisan.

written by the house speaker mike johnson, was told no. and then on top of that, trump wants to double down and say they should be no bill passed until he becomes president? how is this not oligarchy or a person trying to be a king? i think elon musk needs to sit somewhere and be quiet. this will never bring our country together. host: let me ask you about the part of the deal which is now dead that included a cost-of-living increase for lawmakers. are you in favor of that? caller: on the surface no, but they have not had a cost of living increase in the last 16 years which is what the congressman said, then yes, i got a cost-of-living increase which will start of january. and so, the cost-of-living increase should go to everyone and they should get it.

although, i do think that congress have not done their jobs, period. host: dan in and grant pass, oregon. republican. caller: i want to bring up a little bit of climate change, i want to talk about perpetual. i guy out on the west -- they have them out on the west coast and every year they knew that the virus was coming in the clouds were going to be hot. i would like the new administration coming in to dig into the omc plan and its bylaws because they are not on the ground. they do not know what is going on. people come from other areas to fight it and that is where they make their money. and they have 300 million or something per station. they have to plant some trees to protect them and the burnt out areas need to be planted for the animals. god bless everyone, have a happy

new year and a safe christmas. host: debbie in bloomsburg, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: i agree with the last two callers. i do not agree with the representative from missouri who said that there is no such thing as climate change, because there is. and about the gas prices, yes they all felt. because all of the restaurants closed and all of the shoe stories. the only thing that was open for the big-box stores. and my gas in pennsylvania was like $2.10 a gallon. after covid was over, it is going to go up. that is why gas was down one trump was in. why don't they tell the truth? that is all i have to say. host: speaker mike johnson was on fox news yesterday morning so this is before the deal died and he is defending the bill that he

negotiated with leadership in the house and the senate. defending that bill against conservative critics including musk and ramaswamy. [video clip] >> you know who does not also like this, elon musk. he tweeted "this bill should not pass." the only way you will be able to pass it now is with democrats. if you could, what is your message to elon musk? >> i was communicating with elon last night. we are on a text chain together and i was expanding -- explaining the background and ramaswamy said i get it and you are in an impossible position. a member we still have a ranger thin margin -- razor thin margin. they understand the situation and said this is not directed of you but we do not like the spending and i said guess what i do not either. here is the key. by doing this we are clearing the deck and setting up for

trump to come in growing back with the america first agenda and that is what we will run with gusto when we start the new congress when the beak -- when republicans are in control. and all of our fiscal conservative friends will be able to do the things i have wanted to do the last couple of years. right now democrats still control the desk and that is the problem. we need to get this thing done so we do not have the shutdown so we get the short-term funding measures and we get to march where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. that is where the changes start and we cannot wait to get there. [end video clip] host: we are in open form. glenn from pennsylvania. republican. caller: how are you doing? it is funny. democrats come on your show, which you do lean democrat. usually when republicans are talking and you do not like what they say, all of the arms goes toward the shutoff button. host: i'm about to shut you off.

you have something that you want to say besides your comments on me? caller: on open forum, there was a democrat that was talking, how come he does not mention the football stadium or that they got into this bill that the emails that they will never be able to pull up the emails. of the representatives host:. the emails? caller: do you think it is right that they would never be able to read emails of congresspeople anymore? host: kevin, san antonio, texas. democrat. good morning. caller: i want to say america's different.

it is not ruled by money. elon musk does not want no rules. the people that govern by money would not benefit the next generation. i have grandbabies and people that will be left in society when i am gone. trump does not want to play by no rules. and i do not know. we are in trouble. host: paul in gross back, texas. republican. is it grosbeck? caller: i would like to say that i have a lot of people calling in and the democrats saying that donald trump will take away social security. he has said repeatedly, time and time again that he is never going to touch and do only good things for social security. he has said that several times. and that is a democrat plan anywhere going 40 or 50 years

and they say that to scare people. and republican presidents have been in several times and they have never touched social security. that is another lying liberal thing. a couple other little things. everybody calls trump hitler, the democrats do. i have news for you. the real hitler killed 11 million people, israeli people. murdered them. trump, people over in israel, they have built a city and named it after trump. they call it trump heights in the golan heights. they love donald trump. that is another lying liberal democrat thing they go around calling trump hitler when he is right the opposite and the people of israel love donald trump. and as far as the debt ceiling

and all of this, trump and them will get it done. the democrats would want to kick the can down the road. they have already kicked it down enough that it is 36 or $37 trillion. you keep building the debt up and you are going to run out with the world banks and devastate this country. and trump will get this thing done. host: regina in hyattsville, maryland. democrat. good morning. caller: i listen to the previous caller and i am very surprised to hear that he does not understand that for the last two years that house has been controlled by the republican party. and nothing has been done. for two years we have been

continuing resolution. we do not have a fix for this approaching shutdown. as a democrat i have contacted my representative. i am a social security recipients and at this point let the rubber meets the road. you do not want to agree with that, shut it down. i would rather shut it down for you all to stop asking the democratic party to save yourselves when you all come to work every day making thousands of dollars and doing nothing. congress does not work half the year. and yet we are supposed to work. pay our taxes, and you all are not doing anything for this -- for us. let the rubber meet the road. host: john, cleveland, ohio. independent line. caller: i think all of these issues have been poisoned by the influence and domination of the

cia over the media. and, i think if you look up ci operation mockingbird controls the media to demonize countries for u.s. attacks against those countries. what we are hearing with the overthrow of the decent and elected syrian government by a gang of cia sponsored terrorists. host: are you talking about the assad government recently? caller: yes, being overthrown by what the media has been calling for years in this dirty war against syria moderate freedom fighters. they are scumbag terrorists who have been bleeding that country as they have been used by the

united states around the world ever since afghanistan. especially during the reagan administration. and the last year of the carter administration when carter's national security adviser bragged about sending billions of dollars of cia money to a gang of terrorists called freedom fighters by the rest of the cia media. i think it is a really dirty practice and we have to get other information such as global research and the search phrase. host: a couple of items for your schedule later today. it is the 50th anniversa of the 1974 freedom of information act. and ralph nader will part of a conference commemorating the anniversary. which prodes transparency, helps regulate double --

government control of federal documents hosted by the center for the study of response law. we have live coverage starting right after this program at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. also antony blinken is leading the un security council for two etings. at 9:30 a.m. he willocus on the implications of artificial intelligence for maintaining international peace and security. at 1:30 he will consider the humanitarian crisis in sedan. we will have both of those live on c-span3 and you can also watch both programs on c-span now, our app and c-span.org. al green of texas talks about the government funding deadline and how democrats deal with the incoming gop trifecta next month. we will be right back. ♪

>> in an earlier conversation in the series, evan thomas discusses the 1986 book "the wise men." there were six of them. now in this episode we ask edward kent aldrich to discuss his book entitled "the partnership: george marshall, henry stimon and the extraordinary collapse -- collaborations that won world war ii." he put stimpson and george marshall in intensive patient of the global war that everyone knew that the united states would be drawn into. >> edward aldrich and his boo thearership" on this episode of bknotes+, which is

available on the c-span free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> for more than 45 years, c-span has been in -- been your window into the workings of democracy offering live coverage of congress and unfiltered access to the decision-makers that shape our nation and we have done it all without a sense of government funding. c-span exists for you, viewers that value transparent no spin political coverage and your support keeps our mission alive. as we close out the year we ask you to stand without -- with us. your gift goes 100% toward supporting c-span's vital work, helping ensure that longform in-depth and independent coverage thrives in an era where it is needed more than ever. visit c-span.org/donate or scan the code to make your

tax-deductible contribution today. together we can ensure that c-span remains and entrusted resource for you and future generations. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by democratic representative al green of texas , a member of the financial services committee. welcome back. guest: thank you and i am honored to be with you. host: let us start with the cr, the government funding deadline is in a day and a half and what is happening right now? guest: right now we are trying to get a better understanding of why the republican party has chosen to abandon an agreement. this is something that was agreed to and i fully anticipated and i do not speak for anybody but myself. i anticipated that we without on it yesterday and this would be behind us. for whatever reason they decided that they would not support the

cr and the consequences will have to belong to those who choose not to support something that was agreed to. host: do you think that the government will shut down? guest: i do not want to say yes to that. i hope not. we are living in a different era where people are willing to go to the extreme of extremes. and so i cannot really say. i hope not. that would take us to a new place where we have not been. let us hope that that never happens. host: when do you expect to vote. it has leadership told you anything about what you could vote on? guest: we have not had additional information accorded to me out of the meeting this morning. and perhaps at that time we will get that additional information. i currently know what you know that we had an agreement and that agreement was not capped.

--kept. host: president trump rejected the cr deal and he made a proposal to combine it with a debt ceiling increase. what are your thoughts on that? guest: i think the debt ceiling is something that requires special attention just as the cr does. the amount of attention necessary to come to an agreement hopefully, we will continue to reach agreements. i think people appreciate bipartisanship even though it is difficult to achieve. the debt ceiling can be a challenge and i would love to pass it right now if we could. i do not think it works that way when you get into the nuts and bolts of doing it. it is easy to say do something when you do not have to do it and you are putting it in the hands of others. my hope is that we will be able to pass it, but i do not think it will be a part of this cr. if we have a deal we ought to honor it. we are not honoring it so we need to work back to the cr first. host: some republicans are upset

with house speaker johnson has handled the situation with the cr. are democrats going to have to vote to pass essentially whatever cr you get in order to keep the government open? guest: if republicans can agree among themselves. they have a majority in the house, then we would be forced to do that. if they can agree among themselves. unfortunately, or as the case may be, they have not been able to do this. let me just say this. i really feel sorry for the speaker. some people will say how could you say that? because, he cannot get an agreement among his people, meaning the republicans. and when he cannot, they then condemn him for reaching an agreement after much deliberation with the democrats. they will not agree and they will not agree to any other agreement.

so the republicans are really putting themselves in a position that the american people will be very much concerned about why they have chosen this path. host: part of this deal was a 3.8 percent cost-of-living increase for lawmakers. are you in support of that and you think those lawmakers should get that he increase? guest: i think this. i live in washington, d.c. and houston, texas. i know what it costs to live here and i have my home in houston. while i can probably be ok as i am, there are a good many people in congress and i do not know the exact number who sleep in their offices. i do not have children in college and many of my colleagues do, republican and democrat. and i think that given that it has been more than a decade, i believe, since there has been any increase in the salary, i think that under the law as it is written this would be an

appropriate thing to happen. i do not say that we should get something that is out of the ordinary. but i think this is within reason for people who do what we do. i know that that is something that a good many people do not favor. here is something that i marvel at. we will accept giving millions in tax breaks to billionaires. but we do not want to see the people who are trying their very best to make things work for us receive this raise. i do support it. although, i will tell you it is not a dealbreaker for me. it is not. i do not want to eulogize a dead bill. but the things in their that are important that are a dealbreaker or a potential dealbreaker would be the hundred billion dollars going to those people who were

victims of these natural disasters. buy from -- but for the grace of god it could be me. i live along the gulf coast and i remember what happened when katrina hit new orleans, which was where i was born. i remember how it impacted us. i am saying to you, i would want that to be in any bill and that is important. i think the $20 billion for health care. health care is important. we cannot allow health care to become wealth care where those who have money will get good health care and those who do not get it. those are the things that could be potential deal breakers for me. beyond that, that is not a dealbreaker, although i think it is the right thing to do. host: if you would like to join the conversation with representative al green of texas you can do so. the lines are by parties. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents.

there is an article in "the hill" saying that the approach for democrats for countering or opposing president elect in his second term will be different this time given the loss in the election and the results of the election. our democrats going to be changing -- are democrats going to be changing their method and approach? guest: as i have said multiple times before, i speak for myself and everyone who agrees with me. so, here is my position on this. i think that we have to realize that this last election was one that caused us to come up short. by the way, it was not a landslide by both definitions. we did not get the majority of the votes, but it was not a landslide and i do not want to go into the details. here's what did happen. there were people depending on

us when we had the house and senate and the presidency. host: democrats? guest: we, democrats. they were depending on us to do certain things. these are our constituents, they wanted us to pass the protecting the right to work act for people to organize, protecting the right to organize act. this is a labor issue. we had the house, senate, and presidency. we did not pass that and i will get to the reason in a moment. we were also expected to pass something on the minimum wage to raise the wage and to make it a living wage of possible. we did not do that. we had the house, senate and presidency. people were depending on us to get it done. there were people who were depending us to pass the voting rights. as you know shelby county versus holder was a case where we lost

significant portions of the goal -- of the voting rights act and it would restore parts of that. there were people depending on us to do things that would impact their lives like immigration reform. comprehensive immigration reform is something we have been talking about since i have been in congress. when we do not do that and pass these other things, these people, some of them began -- became disenchanted. we should not blame them and say they were not loyal. here is what i think. there were two senators and i will not call their names. there were two senators who were roadblocks, prevented us from moving forward with significant portions of our agenda. had those two senators come on board we could have passed these things. and when vice president harris was running, she could have talked about how we would pass comprehensive immigration reform and the zach and -- the poor

act, the george floyd justice in policing act, that was a big deal for a lot of my constituents, especially black men who are taking some of the blame for us not succeeding in the last election. i think that those things were important to people and when you do not do those things, then you will lose some of your enthusiasm. and i think that we have to stick with those things. i do not think we are abandoning them. i am for expanding and being inclusive and i want to bring in everybody that we can but not to abandon the things that are important to people i have been representing for many years. host: what is a liberated democrat? guest: a democrat that is un bought and unafraid. unbought, there are some people i do not take money from. it does not matter what amount. like some the big banks.

i sit on the financial services committee. i will not take money from them. i'm not condemning anybody who does, but this is how i believe that i can best serve people by not allowing the appearance of that impropriety to be in place. unbought, unbossed. meaning that when i come on your program you're going to hear my candid opinions. i do not bring you a canned message that anybody else has scripted for me and pushed me onto the stage and sang read this. i believe that my constituents elected me to take a strong stance on the things that are important to them. they do not expect me to always win but they expect me to fight. not with fisticuffs but in the sense that i will push the issues important to them. the ones i mentioned are very important. host: let us talk to some callers and start with the republican line. mike. good morning. caller: good morning. yes.

manchin and sinema did save democracy by not allowing the democrats to do away with the filibuster. they both got redemption against the democrats. this bill that -- there is so much pork in the bill. it is wanting to hide emails and texts from congressmen and women. that should not be. the american people can have their emails and texts confiscated. this bill needs to be passed with acr with -- a cr with $100 billion for exact -- for disaster and the farmers. one other thing, mr. green, you are from houston, you represent houston? guest: i do. caller: have you had any contact with jocelyn's family about the two animals that raped and

murdered her and discarded her like garbage? guest: let me start by saying i do regret the loss of any life, and there are many lives that i have not had contact with or many people that i have had contact with. many. but i do regret it. thank you. host: brenda in indiana, pennsylvania. democrat. good morning. caller: i have a statement and then a question. i am sorry i did not get in with the previous guest when he talked about wanting to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in the s.n.a.p. in the poorest americans. it was my understanding that rick scott was convicted of running one of the largest medicare fraud scheme schemes in the state of florida. if that is true then his fraud got rewarded with a senate seat. that is my statement.

my question is, republicans are always deficit hawks when democrats are in. biden added $8 trillion to the national debt. also, i know that trump added $8 trillion to the national debt. and biden added about $4 trillion. so if we have a spending problem like the republicans say, how can they push to raise the debt ceiling? thank you. guest: thank you very much. i am not -- they are not pushing to raise the debt ceiling but to have it raised on president biden's watch. i think you made a good point. that would then free them of having some of that debt ceiling become a part of things that they have been a participant in. i think that the debt ceiling has to be raised. we have to pay our bills.

and i will be voting to raise the debt ceiling. i do not know how the richest country in the world can become a deadbeat nation. i will be voting to pay the bills that we have already made and that is what it is all about. the bills that you have already promised to pay. and we have to honor our commitment with united states of america. host: regarding bringing down government spending concerning social security. some people have proposed removing the cap on social security taxes, others have said making the retirement age later. either of those, would you be open to that? guest: let us examine where we are, if i may. social security is more than just a monthly stipend for some people. this is a necessity for them. for many people, it is the only income that they have.

and we do have to make sure that we secure social security. that is an absolute necessity. to do that we have to do it in such a way as to not cause some people to at some point not live long enough to benefit from it. for example black men have a shorter lifespan than white men. and if we just decided that well, what we will do is we will not raise the cap but just simply decide that we will not tax people and allow those who are not living as long, and unfortunately they will not benefit from it and we will find other ways to do something about it. i do not agree with it. yes, we can raise the cap. that we require people who are making large amounts of money to put more into social security. to secure the social order in this country. i think that is the better way

to go. in doing that, black men and i am not speaking for myself, i have already reached the age. i celebrated my 20 fits birthday three times and now i am two years into my third 25th -- fourth 25th. i will invite you to that party when it takes place. the point is that when we consider all of the constituents, and raising the cap is the best way that everyone can benefit. host: rockaway, new york. independent line. caller: representative, i have to say that you are one of my greatest champions as far as letting people know about s laves and what they contributed to the country. please stay with the laws you are trying to pass in that regard. on january 20, i will be watching the tribute to dr. martin luther king jr.

i then might go to donald trump's campaign. but i will be watching dr. king, who said "my children, i hope that one day they will be judged by their -- by the content of their character and not the color of their skin." this election with kamala harris, i do not think that was realized. i know it was not because the content of her character compared to the winner of the election, kamala harris had morton content -- more content in her character. and some person said kamala harris could never win election in this country but if hillary clinton had been nominated she might have won. hillary clinton went before the congress charged with things like her laptop and things like she said when obama was running

that she was not going to drop out because anything could happen. people get assassinated. so hillary clinton said some terrible things. but kamala harris had the highest character. host: let us get a response. guest: i supported vice president harris, no secret. i think she was the best candidate. the best candidate does not always win, in my opinion. we still have to go on. he did mention something important, the enslaved. we have not been fair to the enslaved. their lives were sacrificed for some 246 years. they are the economic foundation of mothers and fathers of this country. they built the roads, bridges, harvested the crops, they fed the nation, they had a hand in constructing the capital and the

white house. yet, we will not give them the honor that we gave confederate soldiers in 1956. a congressional gold medal was given to confederate soldiers, not to the enslaved. i think it is time to do this, to honor them. and by the way, there are democrats and republicans who will not sign on to according a congressional gold medal to the enslaved. i just wanted tell the truth and the record speaks for itself and it is right there. 1956, we did it for a confederate soldier, but we cannot do it for the enslaved? we want them always to be less than human beings. these people were not just sacrificed for 10 years or a few months. it was for centuries. and it is time to teach -- to treat them with a degree of dignity, fairness and respect.

my ancestors have not been respected. host: will you be attending -- attending the inauguration? guest: that has been posed by many people and i have said to them that i will make an announcement at an appropriate time. i will not be announcing today. i promise you that if c-span will allow will come back and make it here. host: livingston, tennessee. republican. good morning. caller: mr. green you are the sheep and wolf's clothing. you came down with trump the first day he was walking down and talking about what he was going to do to the nation and turn around and what did you do? you divided the nation by trying to impeach him. you are the first one to come to that side of the fence and say we need to impeach him. but for what reason did you

speak, speaking as a christian. you are not. you hide behind that. you talk those words but you are not. it is very obvious that you tell people. you are the biggest racist on the hill. guest: let us get a response. let me thank you for your call because quite frankly, there are many people who would not upset about me being the first to be a part of history. a good many people who have written books about this do not mention maxine waters or al green. black history is erased from the process. these are prominent people and members of, -- of congress and they have made it appear as though we had no hand in the impeachment process. i am very proud of what i did and i did not do it on his first

day in office. i did it after he displayed impeachable behavior. because of that behavior, i filed multiple motions to impeach him. over 100 members of the house signed on to the efforts. we laid the foundation for the impeachment that took place. i will never back off of that because in my opinion, at that time and i still stand on it, the president did some things worthy of his impeachment. i just trust that history will do as you have done and acknowledge that there are african-americans who laid the foundation for the impeachment of president trump at the time. host: bill in new york. independent line. caller: good morning mr. congressman. facts are facts. the first decade under the century under george bush and the republican conservatives was the worst economy in the country

since the great depression. the second decade was -- under barack obama was the best financial decade since a century. from 2009 until 2019 was the best. trump was in there for two years and they give him all of the credit for his economy. it was the best. covid hit and it came back. my other point is with the migrants. ronald reagan was the one who allowed illegals to flow into california because the legal migrant workers wanted to unionize and reagan wanted to kill it. now they are flowing into new york and all i hear is it a democratic problem and it all started with ronald reagan. when he became president he welcomes the illegals in. george bush jr. allowed the illegals to come in. the butchers were getting $15

an hour when bush was president and then they got 10 when he left because of the illegals. for years they hire illegals and said we were going to build a wall and get around a while and they are still going to hire illegals. people who hired them should be arrested for crime because it is against the contract -- the country in society. the employer's do not pay disability or other insurance to provide to society. musk will work with trump to cut taxes to 15% and then cut the budget. and what the american people do not realize, our first government was a confederated state. they did not pay their bills. general george washington said this country is a farce and that is when they wrote the new government. host: we will take your point. go ahead. guest: briefly. i think comprehensive immigration reform is the way to

resolve our immigration issues. we have people in this country who have been here that have been law-abiding persons. they have families that are here. and many of them came of their own volition, they came as children. my hope is that we will do something to normalize things and allow them to become a part of this country as citizens. i believe that if we have comprehensive immigration reform we can deal with issues associated with the border and make sure that we know who is coming in and out of the country. we need to know who is coming in and out of the country. i am not a person who believes that we should not have anybody coming into the country. i do think lawful entry is appropriate and i look forward to the day when we have comprehensive immigration reform and take care of the millions who are here already and make sure we have a means by which people can get in and out to work who would like to come to

work and still have a pathway for persons who are being persecuted in other countries to come here as we have done for many centuries in this country. host: real quick. we have a question that says " what programs will be affected by a government shutdown?" guest: programs are affected in this way. while we might not affect the person directly, the people who process the paperwork might be out of work. and that processing then impacts them. so the social security check has to be processed by somebody. if those people are not working because of the shutdown, then it will impact social security. host: representative al green, thank you for joining us. guest: thank you. host: we will take you ride over to the house. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]