patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth they have to make a choice one versus the other. sensodyne clinical white provides two shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. ♪ david: hello, everyone, and welcome to the special edition

of "kudlow." i'm david asman in for larry kudlow. president trump says an economic deal between the u.s. and ukraine could be signed, quote, very soon helping to recoup billions of taxpayer dollars that the biden administration spent if on ukraine. the president also continues kind of teasing an upcoming meeting with president, russian president vladimir putin to secure some kind of peace if deal. and to no surprise at all, the globalist establishment is melting down over all of this. ben domenech and steve forbes are going to to be weighing on that in just a moment. plus, montana senator tim sheehy on trump, elon musk and pete hegseth shaking up the pentagon. but first or our very own edward lawrence is live from the if white house with all of this stuff that's going on there, and there's quite a bit of it, edward. >> reporter: quite a bit. and within the last few minutes or so is, reuters is now reporting that the u.s. and ukraine have agreed to terms related to a mineral deal, a

joint venture economic minute if partnership, and that reuters -- according to reuters, president zelenskyy from ukraine is coming here to the united states to sign this deal with president donald trump. we'll is have the see if that is true. when i was in kyiv, i can tell you president volodymyr zelenskyy of ukraine was looking for specifically wanted guarantees over security. i was first there with the treasury secretary, scott bessent. that's when he first delivered the plan to this. however, it was also said that he wanted more weapons as well as those security guarantees. that's not being attached to this agreement. still, the white house saying it's a win-win. >> this is to recoup american tax dollars that have been funding ukraine's national defense, and it's also great for the ukrainian people who have been put through hell because of this war. and it will create a lasting economic partnership as ukraine will need to rebuild their country because of this brutal war. >> reporter: now, the trump administration argues the best way for security would be for

russia to see that the u.s. has a vested interest in ukraine. that would be needed to be protected. some european if allies say this ensures long-term commitment to democracy in ukraine by the united states. still, french president macron says it would be european troops that would be a peace-keeping force, not american soldiers. in the oval office, president trump saying he had discussions about major economic development transactions with russia. listen. >> we're trying to do some economic development deals. they have a lot of things that we want, can and we'll see. i mean, i don't know if that will come to fruition, but we'd love to be able to do that if we could. you know, they have massive rare earth. >> reporter: it's important to remember that russia's under severe sanctions from the united states for this invasion, is that's unclear how that's going to happen. but again, reuters is now reporting that there's been an agreement in principle. nothing has been signed at this point, but an agreement of the terms of the deal between the u.s. and ukraine with according to reuters.

back to you. david: things are moving fast. edward lawrence in d.c., thank you very much. meanwhile, it's down to the wire for the house vote on one big, beautiful bill. let's head over to capitol hill where fox news' aishah hasny is live with the latest -- hasnie if is live with the latest on the tax cuts. >> reporter: hey, david. they are going to to be trying to vote on this budget resolution tonight which will unlock the big, beautiful bill, basically all a of trump's policies. it's a framework, actually, it's the not the actual bill, but it is a key and very important vote. right now there's about 3-4 republican nos and many, many undecided folks which means that this is going the tank if it actually comes up for a vote. i can tell you right now that there are absolutely no democrats that are going to help republicans out tonight. in fact, house democrats were protesting today, protesting outside the capitol. republicans want to extend the 2017 trump tax cuts while also a cutting $2 trillion in spending, and democrats are alleging that

they're going to do this by slashing medicaid. >> looks like it's all going to have to come, almost all, from medicaid and obamacare. and that's taking health services away from the public. my district it's around 50% of kids who get medicaid assistance. >> the word medicaid is not even in this bill. if this bill doesn't even mention the word medicaid a single time. >> reporter: now, democrats are also ripping the trump tax cuts, and they're saying that these are only going to benefit billionaires, but the nonpartisan tax policy center states all income levels would pay less if these tax cuts were extended, even if higher earners see bigger gains. speaker johnson says we may, may not if have a vote tonight. it depends on if he can wrangle both the moderates and fiscal hawks in his conference, if he can get everybody onboard. they've been talking with president trump not only today, but for a while. and so we'll see if the trump factor will mean that they can

get going on his big, beautiful bill. david? david: the trump factor has a hot of power behind it. aishah hasnie, thank you very much. we'll have more on the story. by the way, the house majority if leader, steve scalise, he's on a little later in the show. joining me now to dig deep on all this is ben domenech, editor at large at the spectator if and fox news contributor, and steve forbes, "forbes" if media chairman and editor-in-chief. good to see you. ben, two hours, we're supposed to get this vote. this morning it looked very bad. apparently, donald trump has been on the phone all day with some of the recalcitrant republicans. what are you hearing? >> what i'm hearing, frankly, is more of the same in terms of the frustrations of a lot of these fiscal hawks who within the house have really tried to work over the years to get anything in terms of the kinds of cuts to government that we've seen them try and fight for in the past. but as you know, this is a situation where a sclerotic congress that has been incapable

of dealing with the budget resolutions in any kind of normal order without these kind of big bills that have to punt anything to avoid making any tough decisions, that's what brought us to the point where we have this, you know, who let the doge out period of this current presidential tenure. which is the only way to cut now is apparently to work through the executive to target these probationary if hires and to go after a various programs in that a way. and it's really an indictment of the way that things are supposed to work within a functioning democracy. david: steve, i want to talk about taxes, because if we're going to grow the economy which is the only way we're going to get real money in people's pockets as opposed to the monopoly money passed out during biden, we've got to extend those tax cuts. if we don't do so by the end of the year, we're going to have a huge tax hike. >> and a very nice recession going into the midterm election- david: which means republicans would lose the house and the senate -- >> and 2017 tax cuts also

include a provision, instant writeoff ofs investments phased out over several years, now down to zero. businesses are wondering is that going to be included in this new tax bill. if it isn't, you're going to see real cap-x spending devastated in this country. and companies need a decision now. they're starting to plan for the future. that's why they cannot continue to punt on this thing. and also in terms of the tax cuts themselves, i know this is just a framework, but they've got to get imaginative and reduce income tax rates especially for middle income people. the big thing for the blue states, s.a.l.t., 22, 24% tax brackets. david: right. >> you reduce those two down to 15, they get a tax cut without even raising the deduction. so that's the kind of -- and capital gains. what's theiral aerie to capital gains? -- allergy? let's get through this first step, but if they don't get a nice big, beautiful tax bill soon, we're going to be in trouble. >> and just to steve's point, do

not, do not sort of escape the notion that these democrats are doing something on behalf of the people that they're claiming to be working for. they are doing this entirely because they believe that that if in this just sinks in the water, if this sinks in the swamp, then they will be advantaged when it comes to the midterms that you mentioned. they are doing this for aggressively -- david: pure self--- >> self-interest -- david: surprise, surprise. >> we're used to it by now. we have seen it happen a time and again. don't have any illusions that they're representing the people. david: steve, how can these blue state republicans like congressman lawler, for example, who's been very vocal about all this, how can they get a deal with texans and floridians who say, look, i don't want to pay for bad taxing in new york and california. >> you do it by reducing tax rates. so that way on the federal level that means if you earn more, you

have the incentive to to earn more instead of a deduction. it's one thing to take away, david, the s.a.l.t. deduction, but they forgot the other half which is slashing tax rates so you don't have this constant pressure of trying to get rid of the thing. instead of raising 30,000, 100,000, whatever number they're talking about, cut the tax rates. especially the middle income ones so they can't say it's for the rich. cut it to 15. don't care what the cbo -- the c box's not in the constitution, republicans don't have to pay attention to it and shouldn't. david: but what about a plan if b which ron johnson has talked about in the senate saying we're not going to open up another can of worms, we're going to focus on just extending the tax cuts that exist flight and get into all the -- right now and get into the other stuff later? >> look, i think that idea had its day. it was argued behind the scenes quite a lot, but the president decided on this course. and, look, what donald trump wants to do when it comes to the tactics of the republican party,

that is the marching orders, and it's been true across the board in these opening days. look, i think this is really important not just for the midterms that we discussed, but to make sure that you have a firm foundation going forward for this presidency. because he has a limited window here to get so many different aspects of policy done. it's a very ambitious agenda. getting this taken care of in a quick and smooth way is something that is a challenge for this current house leadership, but they're going to have to meet it in order to deliver. david: we'll talk about challenges. i want to switch to foreign issues for a second, steve. the news that there may be a deal between zelenskyy and the united states on a minerals deal, getting some payback for u.s. taxpayers who have poured in hundreds of billions of dollars in ukraine. do you see any sign of light at the end of the ukrainian tunnel? >> the key is going to be in the details. on that a mineral agreement, for example, 60% of ukraine's minerals are in russian-occupied territory. how are they dealing with that?

so get a deal done, but the the big question everyone rightly raiseses, how do you guarantee ukrainian independent sovereignty with a deal? that's going to require, sadly, boots on the ground. and also i think it's going to require the united states having a big base in poland where if something goes wrong, we can immediately respond. and one thing i hope they'll go, especially the europeans will relent on, is using the $300 billion of frozen assets from the russians and use that for reconstruction. and paying going forward. so $300 billion, start putting that to -- david: by the way, you mentioned increase of forces in poland. for decades now going back to the cold war, we've had tens of thousands of troops in germany. is it time to move them from germany -- >> yes. should have been done years ago. poland is the the center of europe. >> just one more quick point. the fact of the matter is that europe has fallen so far behind when it comes to maintaining their own defenses and their

defense posture. i don't think people truly understand how much they have shrunk their forces. the entire royal navy of the united kingdom could not fill the stadium at annapolis at the naval academy in america. david: wow. >> think about that for a second is. they once were -- ruled the seas, and now they have nothing approaching even 30,000 members of the royal navy. that's something that has to change. we have to have these european nations stand up, rebuild their own defense forces in order to have the kind of guard against exactly the kind of incursion that you're guarding -- >> and we should use fin ifland and sweden and poland -- fin ifland -- and the baltic states which are, in effect, the front lines against russia as the head of the spear. because they know what the threat is. david: well, you know, this leads to the meltdown of the euros that are in power right now p. >> yes. david: they might not be in power much longer the way things are going. we saw the german elections. all kinds of pushback on their

immigration policies, the green energy that hasn't panned out for them. so, i mean, how long can we wait for them the change before we can make a deal? >> concern it's an indictment of the eurocrat agenda going -- david: exactly. i would say the socialist eurocrat -- >> yes. and that, to me many, it's long overdue but very healthy. and i think voters are demanding change. but those changes need to happen more rapidly because there is too much -- >> you know how it's going to happen? if the u.s. succeeds. >> yeah. >> this is when reagan succeeded, 50 countries cut their tax rates which they never would have done without his lead. if america gets it right -- >> leadership matters. >> yes. >> it sends a signal throughout the world, and you are completely right. the truth is i think there is a cascade effect from what's been going on. and i have to say i'm so impressed with particularly the vice president's performance during all of this. i think he has an understanding of this that is truly grounded

in the information that we have learned over the last several years that speaks to the people and to a generation of people who say we need to learn lessons from this and not just wander through things with a fanciful attitude. david: what about secretary rubio? he's pushed back on zelenskyy recently. zelenskyy wanted access to nuclear weapons if, in fact, he wasn't allowed to join nato. rubio pushed back on that right away, he said we need fewer nuclear weapons in the world, not more. there was also the u.n. decision, you know? there was that vote. a lot of neo-conservatives have pushed back on that a saying, essentially, trump said no to the idea of giving zelenskyy more more rope in the fight, and they wanted to, they wanted to condemn russia, and the u.s. didn't want to condemn russia as being part of the invasion in the first place. where -- what about institutions like the u.n.? do we have -- is it time to depart from those institutions? >> ignore the u.n. i believe we have given russia a

pass on that. they were bad in 2022, very bad many in history. but the key thing going forward is how do you make sure you get a durable deal. and in terms of what zelenskyy's doing, i think he's trying to put something big on the table to negotiate. remember, ukraine had nuclear weapons to 19 is 94. today gave them up when the british guaranteed, the u.s. and the brits, that we'd come to their aid if russia went after them. obviously, they felt betrayed. i think that was just a negotiating tack just as the invasion of the curbing region in russia -- curbing region in ukraine -- david ben, were you worried when you saw that u.n. vote that this administration might be patronizing russia in some way? >> i don't think so. i think that the president understands what is important and what isn't is when it comes to negotiations. i think we've seen it happen time and again. he understands when the use

carrots and when to use sticks. and i think this is a situation where, as steve said, there are different negotiation tactics that you're going to have to use during the course of this. but from my perspective, what we're hearing from some of the neo-conservative elements that now inhabit the democratic party is just completely at odds with what we've seen to this point which is a lot of smart people he's brought into the administration. david: talk about a lot of smart people, we've got two on this set. and, by the way, can we get a close-up of this? this is the new spectator magazine. it's wonderful. the first money i ever got in journalism -- >> i appreciate it. thank you very much. david: -- about 20 years old for a book review. >> i'll have to look it up. [laughter] david: thank you very much, gentlemen. coming up, president trump and doge are shaking up the pentagon and refocusing our troops on war fighting, not dei. how do we beef up our military while cutting out the waste?

former navy seal and montana senator tim sheehy when "kudlow" continues. ♪ [sofi mnemonic] can a personal loan unlock your ambitions? oh yeah. consolidate bad debt and save money for your next goal. take a swing at your kitchen reno... meant that literally. or design your actual dream wedding. all your ambitions. all in one app.

sofi personal loans. low fixed rates. borrow up to 100 k. no fees required. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. oh don't forget dinner with my boss. ah great. our new ultimate adhesive will save the day. new poligrip ultimate all in 1. get superhuman hold, food seal and comfort. if your mouth could talk it would ask for poligrip.

our xfinity network is built for streaming all the stuff people love. how can it get any better? -i'm just spitballin' here, but, what if we offer people apple tv+, netflix and peacock? for one low monthly price. -yes. so, people could stream the shows they love. and we could call it... xfinity streamsaver! mmmmm. what about something like: streamsaver? ooooooo. -i love that. add streamsaver with apple tv+, netflix and peacock included for only $15 a month... and stream all your favorite entertainment, all in one place. david: well, the democrats' continuing that a rang against

trump and doge and musk seem to be falling on deaf ears as public support for the wok work they're doing appeared to be unshake aen. meanwhile, doge's work continues, and the pentagon is don't's next target. so what -- doge's next target. what can we expect trump and musk the uncover in the pentagon? joining me now, montana senator tim sheehy. senator, thank you for being here. before we get into the pentagon, i just have to play something for you with. this is sound from senator murphy, chris murphy, democrat from connecticut, about what's happening with doge. i just want to play this and get your reaction. roll tape. >> this whole thing is a fraud, right? if it's a con. it's a grift, right? from the very start, the trump administration has been about a one thing and one thing only, stealing from all of us, stealing from regular people, stealing from poor people, stealing from the middle class

in order to enrich their billionaire mar-a-lago cabal. david: senator, after all of the stuff -- and i want to use with another word, but i can't on tv -- after all the stuff that doge and musk have uncovered about waste and just outright fraud and theft coming from the federal government for years and decades, in fact, he's talking about doge doing the stealing. do you think anybody buys that? >> well, you want to find grift, look no further than usaid and where that money was going. you want the find grift? look at the $40 million a week we've been sending to the taliban. the u.s. taxpayer has literal literally been handing it to terrorist groups that want to kill us. if you want to talk about grift and fraud and theft, i think we've already seen a list exposed by elon musk and his team that's shown exactly where that grift is going and, depress what in it's not going to mar-a-lago billionaires, it's going to terror organizations from the american taxpayers. i actually walked by chris today

when he was holding that press conference, and i couldn't help but chuckle. we've seen four years of grift and theft from the american people, and the worst theft of all, david, as you well know, is inflation. when the government's printing money and driving up the cost of everything in life, that's taking money out of the pockets of hard a working families, and they're stick of -- sick of it. david: it's been going on literally for decades, particular particularly when you're talking about institutions like usaid. but forral of their screams and inaccuracies, trump's approval rating is 9 points above water. way higher than anybody if else. and look at these individual categories. independents, women, hispanics, asians, suburbanites, all of the weak spots in trump's approval, he's above water in all of those individual counts. are they just speaking to deaf ears, the democrats who are making a big scene about all this?

>> i think they're in disarray, david. i think they're still trying to find a message. november 5th was very clear. we won across the board, and the election rhetoric from the left was put them in jail is, put all of us in jail. we're fascists, racistsings, liars. it was all about character assassination and trying to convince the american people to not believe what a they were seeing with their own eyes. and if our message was common sense. it's about to make common sense common again in america. people are tired of looking at a expensive gas, $5 gas, tired of not being able to afford their groceries, tired of the crime being brought into their communities by an open border. and what they're seeing with their own eyes and what they're feeling is not good. and what they're seeing from president trump's administration is common sense policies that are going to to bring down grocery prices, bring down gas prices and make tear streets safe again. and no amount of flailing on the capitol steps and no amount of posters on the senate floor are going to take a away the fact that americans understand what's happening to their economy, they understand what's happening to

their streets. they're tired of it. they want it to be fixed, and they're seeing warp speed transformation of the government the likes of which we haven't seen in generations. it's not perfect -- david: yeah, but it's very simple, bring down the cost of government. the cost of government, spending money you don't have to pay for stuff we don't need is what's causing inflation. i mean's that's how the circle works. >> yes. that's what mill ifton friedman said. the most important number in economics was what the government is spending, what a share of the economy is the government spending. and as you correctly pointed out, for decades we have seen that line going one direction only, up and to the right, and it's the about time we apply some common sense financial metrics back to our economy. and, unfortunately, what that means is some severe inward-looking reflection on what part as of our government are working, what parts are not working and how do we make the parts that are not working work better for the american people because, ultimately, they are the customer.

right now, the american government, if it was a business, would have one star on yelp. the customer is not happy with the result results, and hay want it fixed -- they want it fixed. a. david: as for the pentagon. the president believes in peace through strength. anybody who's been to war knows you don't want to do that again. but we have a lot of waste in the pentagon itself. how do you build up a stronger military and separate the wheat from the chaff? continue to fund and fund new projects for a strong future but cut back on what's not working? >> well, i could talk about this for an hour, david, but i'll try to keep it simpling as i can. the most important thing in any organization is an to session with the mission -- obsession with the mission. the mission of the dod so to close width and kill the enemy in the event of war. that's their job. and in the absence of that, deter war through strength. we had a great hearing today, and the one thing i hope he will do is reorient our defense

acquisition system around the end user, the customer. not bure at accurates in the pentagon, the can customer is the lance corporal, the captain and the sergeant on the front line fighting the enemy. that's what's been lost. former defense secretary robert gates when he was in office built bomb-proof vehicles, saved my life personally. great vehicles. and you know what? he acquired them through a non-standard acquisition system because if he went the normal route, it never would have happened. we shouldn't have to go around a system that doesn't work to get our troops what they need. that means the system's broken. it's time to deconstruct that that failed system. it's time for the pentagon to pass an audit, put the war fighter first and have common sense rule at the pentagon. listen, c.q. brown has been let go. a great career. he followed orders. president biden wanted climate change and dei policies at the top of his list. general brown carried that out. now we have a new sheriff in town, and he has the right to prioritize his priorities. and that's what we're seeing now, and they're readiness the

fight a war. david: i'm getting the wrap with, but the low hanging fruit in the pentagon is the dei programs and, you know, the $1,000 screw, that sort of thing. but there are these outdated legacy systems, billion dollar military system ises, in congressional districts where with they've got really their claws in congress to continue to keep up systems that have become outdated. how do you get rid of them, very with quickly? >> the specifications process is outdated. it takes years to overengineer a system. it's about time we buy things commercial off the shelf. they'll be ready for the war fighter faster, and most importantly, renovations cycle will be much tighter, and we'll get the war fighter what they need. david: great stuff. thank you so much for being here, really appreciate it. coming up, can speaker johnson get house republicans onboard for one big, beautiful bill in tonight's vote? house majority leader steve scalise ors he should know. and he's up next.si ♪ve ♪

the way kevin says he always has to help you. tom doesn't have progressive, so he takes it out on those who do. if you switch you can save hundreds. that's great. you can buy more of that cologne we all love. huh. progressive called me back about the claim i filed. support when you need it? i wonder what that's like, huh? in my office. now, tom. -don't be passive progressive. -this is bad right? switch to get good coverage and savings for yourself. the average dog only lives to be ten.

at the farmer's dog, we don't think that's long enough. that's why our food comes in personalized portions. because a dog at a healthy weight could live a longer, happier life. (auctioneer) let's start the bidding at 5 million dollars. thank you, sir. (man) these people of privilege... hoarding the financial advantages for far too long. (auctioneer) 7.5 at the back. (man) look at them — unaware that robinhood gold members now enjoy the vip treatment — a 3% ira match on retirement contributions.

(auctioneer) 11 million sir. (man) once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive... their fragile reality will plunge into disarray. ♪

it's a smart move to get a second opinion. you do it when you're looking for a contractor. you definitely do it with medical advice. so why not with your stock market investments? we can help you see opportunities you may be missing. at hennion & walsh it only takes a second to schedule your free second opinion. so what's there to lose? speak to hennion & walsh. the second opinion people.

♪ ("born to be wild" by steppenwolf) ♪ ♪ get your motor runnin'! ♪ (car horns blare) come on! ♪ head out on the highway! ♪ crowd: hey! hey! hey! b-12. bingo! (buttons snap) (inhaling furiously) (explosion) (car revs) (cheering and laughter) (♪) don't worry, girls! i've got weathertech. all together: ♪ born to be wild! ♪ for whatever comes your way, there's weathertech.

♪ david: house speaker mike johnson has planned a vote in just a couple of hours, less than that even, for president trump's one big, beautiful bill that includes the tax extension that trump campaigned on. will he get it? joining me now is house majority leader steve scalise of the great state of louisiana. great to see you. thank you for being here, leader. i just have to ask because, obviously, speakers don't put a bill up if they know it's going to to fail. this morning it looked as though it was going to fail. you had four g to op defections, four gop members that didn't look like they were going to vote for it. since then i understand donald trump has been talking to some of those. is it possible that the you could get the votes now? has the president turned those four members or at least three of them around? >> david, a lot of us are still having those conversations. and, look, i mean, i've been here before where we have big bills. when your bringing a big bill to

the floor, you're having conversations with those members that are on the fence. all the way up until the vote's closed, you know, not just when it's open. i've had a times when i was on the floor during the vote with one final member just trying to resolve some is issues, answer questions and, ultimately, get those issues resolved and hopefully get a yes vote. here we have an incredibly narrow majority if as everybody knows in the house, and so just two people going to no could kill the bill. so it's been all hands on deck. we're having a lot of conversations. for weeks and weeks we've been doing that. last night we had a meeting with about 15 of our members who were on the fence. we were able to get all of those members to yes. then we narrowed it down to just a handful, maybe less than a handful, and we've been working through that all day meeting with those members one-on-one. that's going to continue through the vote. david: but this is such a unique circumstance is.

i mean, this bill more than -- i would say more than anything else is what donald trump campaigned on. i mean, he campaigned on a lot of different things, but specifically on turning the economy around. and if you don't get this bill passed, i mean, steve moore came out with a list of the various things that would change if you don't get it passed before it expires at the end of the year. one, standard deduction falls from 30,000 to $16,000. the top individual tax rate will go up from 37 to 39.6. child tax credit falls there from $2,000 to $1,000. small business tax goes up 25%. the death tax doubles. and unlike what the democrats will tell you about this just benefiting the rich, the richest americans would get a massive s.a.l.t. deduction. so, i mean, it would be catastrophic. is it too much to say that, if you don't get it by the end of the year? >> it's not an overat the same time to say that, david. --

overat the same time. -- overstatement. and steven moore's a brilliant economist. there's one item he left off. for every small business in america, you know, part of the trump tax cuts back in 2017 that we're trying to extend, to rene, by the way, these are maintaining the rates that are currently in place. by the end of this year are, some of them expire which means taxes will go up. democrats want those taxes to go up. they want to tack the middle class. it's not the rich, it's not, you know, the billionaires and the billionaires they love talking about, you know? it's going to to be the middle class that get hit with that income tax -- david: absolutely. >> there's a tax increase that's not even on there, it's called 199a. what it means to every small business in america is the ability to compete with large, multi-national corporations. so if we do nothing, the large multi-nationals keep the 21% corporate rate, but every small business in america will jump to a 43% effective rate. can you imagine that?

you're a mom and pop, 20-person hop on main street, and you're -- shop on main street, and you're barely competing with the bill multibillion dollar, globalist company. you're boeing to jump to a more than double -- going to jump to a more than double tax rate than that company. and that's not the billionaire, that's the small mom and pop shop that's going to go go to 43% when your competitor's at 21. that's not even listed, and that's yet one more tax -- david: and individuals. congressman, "the new york times" of all publications in the world came out with a headline a new years ago a back just after the 2017 cut kicked in saying you may not want to hear it, but 65% of all a taxpayers got a tax a deduction. that means that a at least 65% of americans of voting americans will see their taxes go up -- >> over 140 million families

making less than a million dollars, by the way, over 140 million of those families will see a tax increase if this bill fails. and every democrat's voting no, so they want middle class taxes to go up. don't believe their lies about the rich, the millionaires, billionaires. look, trump wants to get rid of the tax on tips, and we're going to do that in this bill. elon musk does not work for tips. david: right. [laughter] >> the average pay of a tip worker is $3 2,000 a year, and there's millions of them, and we want to help those families. the democrat party is saying no to them. they want those families, $3 2,000 a year with, to pay higher taxes. that's what's at a stake -- david: it's not just the democrats. you do have blue state republicans who are so focused -- yeah, but you don't have a margin of error here. >> no, we don't. david: if you lose two votes, that's it. senator johnson has come up with an idea that wouldn't please everybody and it's not what the president really wants, but sort

of a plan b. i just want to play senator johnson about what he thinks may be done that could at least prevent the taxes from going up at the end of the year. roll tape. >> i'd be happy to just extend current, the current tax code to make sure we take a massive automatic tax increase off the table and then start working on what is far more complex, you know, no tax on tips, those types of things. that that's just a far more complex package to put together. david: what about that? at least get something down on paper passed that extends the current code for another couple of years. >> yeah. the problem with that -- and, again, it all sounds great, it's basically the same bill we're passing today. if the people that a vote against it today, it's the same people that are going to vote against just keeping current tax law. it doesn't cost much more to extend no tax on tips. keeping the current law is what's expensive, according to,

by the way, the ref referees up here, the congressional budget office. i think most americans would say if today i'm paying 21%, tomorrow if i'm paying 21%, why does it cost the government money? they're still getting the same amount from me. but the bureaucrats up here, that's why we need to clean this town up, the bureaucrats say the only way you can keep the 21% rate at 21 is if you offset it with cuts of billions and trillions of dollars. david: yeah, it's crazy. >> so we're working through all of that, you know? the bottom line question is, do we want to keep the rates where we are today. that's what we're going to be voting on tonight. or do you want a $4.5 trillion tax increase primarily on the middle class families of america? i don't want that, democrat party all wants that tax hike, but they lie and use billionaires as the bogeyman. billionaire ifs aren't going to be paying these tax hikes. 99% of them hit the middle class and lower income families and

people who work for tips. again, average pay, $3 2,000 a year. david: and, of course, the overtime folks as well. i just want to quickly switch gears because with we're running out of time. the democratic protest against doge, we understand they're not just taking place inside the beltway now. there's this campaign to put them in various districts where congress people are in trouble and they might turn some close districts which might turn around and get you to lose your majority in the house. free beacon's come out with an investigation that a lot of these people are professional as; that is, they've been tutored by some of the groups funded by george soros' operations like indivisible and moveon and stuff. what do you know about this? does this go beyond just congressmen mouthing off in front of the capitol? if. >> we've seen this playbook before. some of them might be constituents in somebody's district. a lot of them are you know, people that are just far-left

activists who show up when you trying to -- when you're trying to put more money in the on pockets of taxpayers. they want to waste your money. we all saw the $2 billion to stacey abrams' group. to do what? you know, she literally just formed the organization, they had $100 in revenue. david: i know. >> from the year before. and they got a $2 billion contract with the federal government, lo and we hold. was that competitively bid, david? i don't think so. the cronyism, friends -- david: in radio it's called pay owe hall -- payola. >> yeah. the american people see it for what a it is. david: the american people see it. thank goodness for doge because they pulled the curtain aside. >> it's about time we do this. david: it's like the pandemic, in our school system is. leader scalise -- >> another layer that's been needed for a long time. david: i know you're so busy and will be for the next few hours. thank you so much for taking time with us. >> failure's not an option, david. let's go get it done.

thanks a lot are. david: appreciate it. coming up, republican lawmakers have been trying for decades to defund left-wing propaganda that you hear coming out of npr. new york congresswoman claudia tenney is going to tell us about her new bill when "kudlow" continues. ♪(wifbe c ♪ that's why at fisher investments, we keep a disciplined approach with your portfolio, helping you through the market's ups and downs. (husband) what about communication? (fisher investments) we check in regularly to keep you informed. (wife) which means you'll help us stay on track? (fisher investments) yes. as a fiduciary, we always put your interests first. because we do better when you do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different.

(♪) car, this isn't the way home. that's right james, it isn't. car, where are we going? we're here. (♪) surprise!!! the future isn't scary. not investing in it is. car, were you in on this? nothing gets by you james. nasdaq-100 innovators. one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com

david: well, for years conservatives have been complaining about taxpayer funds going to the left-leaning news operations of public radio and public tv, but their hooks are in the beltway establishment so deep that they've proved almost impossible to dislodge. now republican haw makers have a new -- lawmakers have a new plan to cut the cord. here to tell us about her new bill is new york congresswoman claudia tenney. great to see you. thank you for being here. so explain if how your new bill would work. >> well, first of all, as a former newspaper owner and publisher, i very much understand how important it is to get the news and get the facts. but these organizations have become purveyors of advocacy and not accuracy, and they're not giving us facts. they're giving us a lot of propaganda. that's why i put many a bill cosponsored by long with senator mike lee in the senate. and we've got to do that because all this money is going in to the actually promote a liberal

agenda, and that is not fair to the american public. we're doing exactly what doge wants us to do, we're finding the fraud, abuse and waste in these organizations. and, david, i'll just give you an example. the dei director at the pbs stations makes over $400,000 a year in a government job, all right? we don't need a dei director, nor do we need to have our government money go to pay for what has become propaganda for the left, and that ooh -- that's what these stations are -- have become. david: by the way, i believe that's more than what cabinet secretaries make. i believe that's true. i may be wrong on that. >> i think your right. david: they always push back and say, look, we get less than 1%, less than 11th of our funding -- 1% of our funding from the federal government. but what they don't tell you is that 31% of npr's revenue comes from programming fees that are a paid by member stations, and those stations get about 10% of their money from the federal government. so it's all intertwined from --

it starts with money coming from the federal government and weeds its way down into npr. >> well, right. and also a it's more, it's closer to 15- 20%, not 1%. but the other thing they also do is, you know, organizations like george soros' foundation cans are funding groups to actually put out propaganda to take an advocacy position, and they're not disclosing that. to if you want to turn on a cnn, a fox news, whatever, you know what you're debting -- getting. you want to see what they viewpoint is, and in many cases you're going to get very much a level playing field. with this, this is our money. that's a different thing. when you're using our taxpayer dollars to promote if a liberal agenda where 67-70 of their audience now are people that describe themselves as liberal or very liberal, contrast that to about 20 or 30 years ago where only about 0 did. all this government money -- 20%

did. we're not getting balanced news, we're not getting facts. we're getting propaganda from the if left, and that's why we need to doge this. david: congressman, i want to switch gears to what's going to be happening in a couple hours or even less, this vote on whether or not donald trump gets his one beautiful bill in the house. blue state republicans, today want a higher s.a.l.t. deduction which is essentially payback from the feds for all the money that they're spending on state and local are taxes. now, you're a blue state republican. how high do the blue state republicans want to get from the deduction that they're now getting of about $10,000? >> well, let me talk to you about what trump stands for x that's common sense. he's looking for common sense. we -- he wants to give us some relief on s.a.l.t. is, and he appreciates that. we have a special meeting with president trump, all the blue state republicans, on where the sweet spot should be, and he said i want to give you something. it's not going to be unlimited, but we need something because we do have a lot of high earners

that are suffering under the high taxes in new york. in my district, very few of the people in my district itemize which would be the people that benefit the least from s.a.l.t., but we also double the standard deduction. and what we're look at right now, what's really important for people to understand is if we allow these tax cuts to expire, your seeing a $-- you're seeing a $4.5 trillion tax cut and mostly to the lower and middle income if taxpayers, not to have vel wealthy. there's a great, you know, chart that's going out we'll be putting on our social media that shows you how much of a tax break the tax cuts and jobs act are for small businesses, middle and lower income taxpayers, our farmers, everyone operating throughout my district in upstate new york. most, 95%, got a tax cut. if that goes away, you're going to see 95% get a tax increase. not good. david: absolutely. we've got five is seconds. is the president who's now dealing directly with these republicans, is he going the get a deal by the end of the day? >> i hope so is. this is what we need in order the start the whole process of

getting what we need. i'm a yes. david: claudia tenney, thank you so much for being here, appreciate it. we'll be right back. who have built their businesses, most influential audience. need creative? we can help. fox news media impact starts here. advertise with us today. (psst psst) ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary spraying flonase daily gives you long-lasting, non-drowsy relief. (psst psst) flonase. all good. you might know harbor freight for affordability. what you might not know is performance and durability goes right along with it. you see, we test. and then we test again.

world-class engineering and rigorous testing to ensure our tools perform at the highest level and stand the test of time without testing your wallet. now it's time for you to put us to the test. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. (♪) most people don't realize how processed typical dog food is. at the farmer's dog, we believe dogs should be able to get their daily nutrition without the excess processing. ♪

when i started walton goggins' goggle glasses, i needed a website. and figuring out how to make one was pretty hard on the ol' noggin. but with godaddy airo, i can just tell it what i want, and it uses ai to make a website so fast it pretty much blows my noggin. this is working. with a beautiful design that'll blow my customers' noggins. which allowed me to focus my noggin on makin' more goggins' to put on their noggins, which were just metaphorically blown. ♪ look like you know what you're doing at godaddy.com david david and that's all for "kudlow" today. we'll see you back here tomorrow. ♪ if (people shouting) - [narrator] it's 1907 and a crisis grips wall street.