♪♪ in less than a months, members of the 119th congress will be sworn in and republicans will be the majority party in both chambers. but it wasn't until this week that we learned just how slim that majority will be in the house. democrat adam gray defeated republican incumbent john duarte in california's 13th district. that narrows the house republican majority to just 220 seats, meaning republicans can lose just two votes on

legislation if democrats all vote in opposition. that majority is also expected to temporarily some house republicans move to the trump administration. make no mistakes, house republicans will have significant control over laws and rules over your life. they'll have majority seats on committees with subpoena power. the question house democrats are facing, what will they be doing to fight back? joining us now, democratic congressman from california, robert garcia. good morning, congressman. >> congressman, it's always a pleasure. and it's about the fight. i'm curious as to what kind of fight democrats think they have. i mean, look, being a minority in the senate is one thing, but in the house it can be very difficult. as you know the way the rules are. but there are some things that democrats can do given the slim majority that the republicans are going to have. you have, you know, hakeem jeffries talking about that a little bit in materials of how

the dems will set up their seniority and how that's going to play in their emphasis. take a quick listen. >> the caucus will continue to work its will. i'm not going to get out ahead of any on going deliberations that are taking place within the house democratic caucus as per the tradition for decades in terms of house democratic leadership. we have enormous talent spread throughout the caucus. and that talent, of course, includes both more seasoned members who bring great experience to the congressional arena as well as newer members who've got a lot of energy and capacity and ability. and we welcome their entry on to the playing field. >> some of those senior members are being, how shall we say, slid a little bit to the side for the newer membership, someone like congressman raskins

to sort of take a leadership role on judiciary which will be an important committee. what do you say? what do you think about the democrats sort of assessing and aligning themselves for the loyal opposition that they're going to represent in the next congress? >> well, i think it's one of those newer members our leader is correct. we're ready to fight. we know we had a tough election night, but at the end of the day, this majority republicans have is slim. the slimmest majority of the modern era. we actually have more seats than the last congress. and so, for those of us coming in as freshman, new members, we are ready to bring the heat to the republicans. we are not going to allow them to destroy our institutions. we're not going to allow them to roll back right for folks. the minority in the last congress, we stopped a lot of their worst ideas. so every single day i think we're more and more fired up to do the right thing, to push back on republicans. and as you can see, there's a lot of energy in the house from newer members. >> uh-huh.

>> one of the big stories this week, of course, the sort of race to see who will be a ranking member on oversight committee, which, of course, the committee you were a part of. you had representative conley announcing his bid on tuesday. you have representative ocasio-cortez announcing her bid for ranking member on friday. why does it matter who leads it? >> well, i think first what's interesting about this congress, obviously as a freshman, we are seeing newer members, members that had been in congress maybe less than a mar jurorty of the congress step up to try to take leadership. i think that is important. i think our party can be both a party of seniority. folks that have the experience but also new ideas are really important. obviously representative ocasio-cortez is an incredible member of our caucus. she's personally a mentor, she's tough and knows how to take it to the republicans. she knows how to take it to donald trump. what we need in congress, folks not just bringing the experience which is so important, but also people that are going to bring

the fire. we have to hold republicans accountable for what they're trying to do. bringing on elon musk and these billionaires to try to essentially redistribute wealth from working class people back to their own companies is crazy. so we've got to be tough and bring our very best in this congress. >> can i ask you, though, do you think there's an opportunity for dems on oversight to have a proactive agenda? or do you think the majority of what you're doing is playing defense? >> we'll have a proactive agenda. look at what jamie raskin and us in oversight did this last congress. we completely dismantled all of their arguments. we're going to be aggressive even in the minority on oversight and all these committees. that will be really important for us. >> well, you know, i get that, but the other side of it is in your aggression, what's your strategy? because you have a voting population that's largely turned away from the messaging that the democrats have levelled up. so, do you see this as much as

an opportunity to hold the line in the house, but at the same time, level up a different approach and a different strategy for the country moving forward because right now the country said we are on our best day center right, on our worst maga. so where do you find room to level up a narrative given some of the angling by the progressive members of your caucus who may be more aligned with some of the things that may not necessarily translate for voters. so how do you see that legislative agenda inside the house also playing the outside game with the voters? >> i mean, first i think we have to be honest about with the election. yes, we lost the presidential election. we obviously lost the senate. but kamala harris actually is going to be one 1.5% of winning the presidency. house democrats actually gained

seats in the house. so, yes, we have to refine our message. yes, we actually have to do a better job of being more aggressive. where we're actually talking about our values. not wholesale reaction to who we stand up for. it's this idea that we're going to abandon lgbtq plus people or abandon our fight for reproductive rights or abandon racial justice is not the right approach. we have to double down on being the party of working people and then being in every single space, communicating that message. >> but the worker out there is saying we're with him. >> we're not in all the spaces where people are getting their information. and we have to do a much better job of messaging and reminding folks the republican party is the party of billionaires. just look at the appointments. he already appointed over 10 billionaires to positions of power in his administration. the republicans are the party of billionaires. we have to remind people that we are the party of working people. >> you have representative casad

elected to chair the house progressive caucus whether or not he would work with doj. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> well, progressives have always been for efficient use of our tax dollars. unfortunately elon musk is largely proven himself to be an efficient liar and self-serving pollute cat. and so, don't have high hopes for him having anything other than pretty awful ideas. but progressives are always willing to vote for and champion good ideas. >> i saw you on x or blue sky saying i'm a nope. >> i'm a nope. >> i have zero confidence that elon musk in his fake department are actually going to produce anything positive for the american people. these folks want to redistribute hard-working wealth from middle class families back into their own companies and into their own pockets. let's be very clear. now, if their ideas that are popular that are bipartisan, sure, we can have those conversations.

but let's be clear about what donald trump and elon musk want to do. they want to enrich themselves, large corporations and their friends. and we have to be crystal clear to not work and allow these people to destroy our government. let me just say he'll be an incredible chair of the kau cushion. a good friend, one of my freshman classmates. i'm excited to work with him and our caucus to push back on this fake department. >> let's talk a little bit about what republicans are thinking about doing. you have senator rand paul offering up some ideas with respect to this doj effort to look at government efficiencies. >> so grateful for you teaching me how to pronounce that. >> it's the doj thing. whole crypto currency piece that goes with that, noex.folks. connect the dots if you will. listen to senator rand paul cutting entitlements to -- >> i'm looking at the entitlements, the waste, everything because it's such an

enormous problem that if you put military off the table and put entitlements off the table, all you have left is 16% of the budget. if you eliminate that, you don't get anywhere close to balancing the budget ever. >> can i say donald trump oversaw an increase in deficits during his first term in office. >> facts. why are you bringing facts to the conversation. >> and all they want to do, all they want to do is cut programs that people defend on. they're looking at social security. they're looking at medicare. >> but they say, congressman, that's not what they're going to do. >> they're litlith rally talking about them and members of congress are talking about cutting social security and medicare. that's exactly what they want to do. they talked about eliminating the department of education. this is critical to public education. >> block grants to the state, congressman, right? >> and eliminate funding for children and students with disabilities which is insane and crazy. we have to fight and fight hard in this next congress and beyond. we'll work every single day to

work -- >> being tongue and cheek there, but the serious point s how do you make that case for a snap program, for social security program, to a population that has now said that those programs -- this whole government thing doesn't work for them. and that they're not -- they want to see it blown up. they want to see it taken down. they want to deconstruct the administrative state. that's why i voted for donald trump. and i'm excited about that. you hear that from the millionaires and billionaires as much as you do from the workers. so, how do you make the case that the department of education is important for what reason? snap programs are important for what reason? beside the fact that your kid is probably on that snap program which is why he's getting lunch and breakfast at school, but you know, we set that aside. people don't see that connection to themselves, do they? >> no. i think that's absolutely correct. we have to do a better job of telling the story, fighting for

workers and it being in every space to communicate that message. one thing i think as democrats i think we all recognize we've got to be in more spaces and more places where people are consuming information and used. in my opinion, we have to be more aggressive. we have to fight harder, be more aggressive, and remind people that we are the party of working class people. >> congressman robert garcia, thank you so much for waking up early and being with us. next, trump eyes his old foe ron desantis as a potential replacement for one of his top administration picks. brandon wolf is at the table to discuss. you're watching "the weekend" on msnbc. kend" on msnbc. care should evolve with you, and part of that evolution means choosing the right medicare plan for you. humana can help. with original medicare you're covered for hospital stays and doctor office visits, but you'll have to pay a deductible for each. a medicare supplement plan pays for some or all of your original medicare deductibles, but they may have higher monthly

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donald trump is once again insisting he'll drain the swamp of washington, d.c. but when it comes to filling out his administration, he's looking to a place of millions of acres of swampland, his home state of florida. trump already enlisted former florida attorney general pam

bondi to serve as head of the justice department. congressman matt waltz and senator marco rubio for secretary of state. now nbc news reports that he's also considering florida governor ron desantis, oh, we remember ron, as a potential replacement for pete hegseth as secretary of defense if hegseth's embattled nomination falls apart. so, folks, what does this mean to bring florida to the white house? well, to help us answer that question is press secretary for the human rights campaign, brandon wolf. welcome, brandon. >> thank you. good to be here. >> given which ever producer did all that swamp talk, pulitzer, great work. >> it was beautifully done. >> chef's kiss. okay. i wanted to have this conversation, and i specifically wanted to have it with you, because part of my concern with these nominees is that the overton window is shifting, right? you look at someone like matt gaetz, matt gaetz's nomination falls apart, pam bondi then

becomes more reasonable simply because she is not matt gaetz. >> right. >> i think we are setting up potentially to see 2.0 of that with hegseth and with desantis, where simply because desantis doesn't have some of the baggage that hegseth has that you could say, okay, this is a totally rational, normal nominee. and yet so much of what you and i have watched happen in florida points in the other direction. >> yeah. >> specifically when it comes in the ways you should use law enforcement, use the national. when you think ron desantis for d.o.d., what does that say to you? >> well, first, i just have to start by saying it's got to be really embarrassing to be ron desantis in this moment because he's gone from believing he would be the next president of the united states and chastising people in his own party for kissing the ring of donald trump to playing understudy to the fox news host who may not get the job because he has a drinking problem.

so, set that aside, the embarrassment that it is to be ron desantis, i think what people should understand is that donald trump really values certain qualities in people like ron desantis and pam bondi. the first one is that they are also shamelessly self obsessed. that they are desperate for power at every single turn and will anything to get it. you talked about it. remember, he trafficked immigrants into empty parking lots to use them as campaign fodder. he used government agencies against businesses, small and large, who disagreed with the policies he was putting forward. he has built a political career on terrorizing marge kalized people, not because he wants to make life better for people, but because he's looking to amass and hold on to power. and second, you know, project 2025 might be a horrifying wish list for someone like donald trump, but ron desantis has been rung its beta test in florida for a very long time. and i think donald trump values that ron desantis sees government in the same way, that he believes in an all powerful executive so long as that

executive is him or his friends. he believes in big government so long as government is him or his friends. so, i think you're right. i think there's a real threat here that, you know, donald trump is selecting people who believe that government should operate in one particular way and that is in service to donald trump. >> well, the interesting part of that was noted, i think, by the "times." it said, quote, coming to washington with trump's florida nominees is the state's eye catching new brand of policies, bold, liberating and radical or extreme right, malicious and risky, depending on who you ask. under desantis the state has been seen as a test laboratory for maga 2.0. and that really goes to what you were saying about what he's already done. >> uh-huh. >> on the ground as governor in the state of florida. >> that's right. >> now leveling that up to the

largest federal agency in the government, at the d.o.d., what should the folks at d.o.d. be concerned about? >> well, i think service members deserve better. americans deserve better than a self-serving bully sitting behind that desk, making decisions that are all about his personal ambition. people should not be fooled by how the republican primary played out, right? ron desantis may have been knocked down, he may have been exposed as a deeply weird and sometimes unserious person, but he has not given up his ambition to be president of the united states. and for him, that position is all about giving him access to power, putting him at the table where decisions are made, aligning himself so that he can be the heir apparent to the maga fortune. and i think that people at the department of defense should be concerned that that is the lens through which he sees everything. he would be willing, for instance, to carry out donald trump's promise to kick trans folks out of the military if he thinks that serves him. he would be willing to, you

know, uproot all of these programs we put in place to make sure that the military reflects the diverse, the best, the brightest among all of us. he would uproot all of that if he thought that it served him politically. that is not the role of the defense secretary. that role is about protecting americans. it's about putting the constitution first. and i think people should be really concerned that he would be putting himself first at every turn. >> i wanted you to sit at the table today both because i knew we wanted to talk desantis and florida but also because i want to talk about what happened at the supreme court this week and the implications it has even for those of us who don't identify as trans. this from fox, the biggest question is likely to be how the court finds a way to uphold tennessee's law rather than whether the court does so. it seems fairly likely the court's opinion could fundamentally alter the rules governing sex discrimination by the government. how are you breaking this case down for someone who hasn't been following it? >> well, first, the tennessee law is about a fundamental question.

whether or not people have the right, should have the freedom to make healthcare decisions for their own families. in tennessee, in florida and other states like that, politicians have put themselves between families and their kid's pediatricians. and the question before the court is, one, should families have the freedom to get the healthcare they need for themselves and their kids? and number two, should transgender people be able to move throughout this country without fearing discrimination simply on the basis of who they are. that question feels easy to answer if you believe in our constitutional rights, if you believe in our basic and fundamental freedoms. it's unfortunate we have a court that's been captured by donald trump and the right wing. i'm not a prognosticator, not a laurks lawyer, i think the court has a big question in front of it and it's got to answer that question, but i think if they're serious about protecting the constitutional rights of americans f they're serious about protecting our fundamental freedoms, they will side with families, they will side with transgender people and say that, yes, trans people are deserving

of dignity, respect and should be free from discrimination. >> but you heard the argument. that's not where this is headed. >> again, i'm not a prognosticator. i don't want to pretend to be an attorney on tv. but i think that tennessee struggled to make the case that their law is not about discrimination. i think they could not square that circle. it was clear from their own arguments that they believe this law to be about discrimination on the basis of sex. >> i know we got to go, but your comment raised the question in my head, relative to what we heard in the case this week. what is the state's interest here? does the state have an interest in protecting children, protecting young adults when their healthcare is under consideration? what does that balance? because you just made the point, you know, tennessee had a hard time at times in this argument trying to avoid coming off as -- oh, yeah.

this is discriminatory -- >> right. >> but there is this fine line here that i think the court also has to consider. just real quick your thoughts on that. i know you're not a lawyer and not trying to put you in that position but someone who is following this, you do have that other side of the coin. >> and it's where you saw amy coney barrett saying perhaps medical carve-out. >> well, and so here is the struggle that i have with that is that every major medical organization in this country says that gender-affirming care for trans young people is life saving, it's medically necessary and the very same care we're talking about for trans young people is also offered to sis gender kids all the time for other things. so i think that if we're serious about keeping kids safe, about protecting their health and well being, we've got to trust doctors. we've got to trust parents. we've got to let them get in the room and make decisions about what healthcare their families need without them having to call the governor or their state representative for permission first. >> all right. brandon wolf, thank you so much. glad you could be here, man. really appreciate meeting you.

>> thank you. next, update on the day's long manhunt to find the killer of a health insurance executive. plus, france's government collapses just as trump's visiting paris for the reopening of notre dame. vaughn hillyard joins us live from paris next. this is "the weekend." ♪♪ ♪ phone in any condition and get a samsung galaxy s24+, on us, with circle to search. even if your phone is old or dated, you can turn it in at verizon for gifts for you and the family. for a limited time get galaxy s24+, watch and tab. all three on us. that's up to $1,900 in value. survive the holidays with samsung. powered by verizon.

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confirming that they are involved and they are really taking on a more public role in all of this by announcing that $50,000 reward, in addition to the 10,000 that the nypd is already offering for any information that could lead to the arrest of this suspect who remains unidentified at this time. and the other big piece of news that we got late yesterday was that the nypd was able to recover that backpack that they believe the shooter may have been wearing, so they recovered a gray backpack after they spent a lot of time in central park yesterday using drones and also with officers on foot looking for that backpack. because of the extensive video evidence they have, which they say shows the suspect riding that bike into central park with the backpack on and then riding out of central park without the backpack, and they were able to find a gray bag. that's headed to a lab where it will be inspected for dna and fingerprints and police hoping there's something that could lead to the identity of the shooter or potentially

additional clues as to why this crime happened and motive, which is another thing that remains a question at this hour. but police have said they do not believe this was related to anything in brian thompson's personal life.priscilla, i do w we learned about the suspected's behavior leading up to the shooter. nbc news is reporting that the roommates he stayed with at a hostile in new york, he kept his mask on the entire time, even when they were eating, only pulling it down to take a bite. i also understand we know more about his flight path. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah. it seems that he was extremely careful and police seem lucky to have gotten that one image where you see his face so clearly. and that appears to have come when he was perhaps flirting with a woman who worked at that hostile and took that mask down and flashed her that smile. but now we're hearing from some of the people that police have interviewed, including two people who were roommates with this man or believed to be roommates with him at the

hostile, saying even when he was eating meals he kept that mask on and literally pulled it down to take a bite and put it right back on. so -- but the other thing here is, of course, where he's been. so we know that he took a bus, police believe, that originated in atlanta to new york city. that was ten days before the crime. so you can imagine there are people who may have seen or spoken to him on that bus that police may be trying to get in touch with. but it appears that he worked really hard to conceal his identity, but we know that atlanta police have been contacted by the nypd. they are working to assist them. we don't know again if that's where he boarded or if he may have boarded that bus somewhere else along the route making its way up to new york city. and the other thing is that they're talking to minnesota police in brian thompson's hometown. they're also talking to family and colleagues looking for any clues that could shed more light on who this gunman might be. >> nbc's priscilla thompson in new york city. thank you, priscilla. it appears that a political shift to the right is taking

hold not just here in america but in countries across europe as well. just this week, romania's constitutional court annulled the results of they elections, citing concerns of russia engaging in a cyber disinformation campaign to propel far right front-runner to victory. also, president macron says he will not resign and will tap a new prime minister in the coming days. this after the french government collapsed after prime minister michel barnier lost a no confidence vote. this comes as france is re-opening the historic notre dame cathedral today for the first time since the devastating fire in 2019. and donald trump is set to attend today's celebration in his first foreign visit since winning the election. joining us live from paris, outside of notre dame cathedral, nbc's vaughn hillyard with the latest. vaughn, it is such a pleasure to see you, my friend. and in front of the cathedral.

>> reporter: you, too. >> first, just, if you could, just sort of set the mood for the moment because a lot of us watched that horrific fire in 2019. and now here we are five years later. as macron promised, reopening the cathedral. what is the sense there? and what does it mean for given everything else that's going on politically, to have this kind of moment stand out? >> reporter: right. this is a significant day on two accounts here. this is a remarkable comeback for this cathedral after the fire that nearly burned down the cathedral. the roof that you see behind us here has been completely rebuilt. the spire, new spire, in that 2019 fire, all of it came crashing down the walls were able to stay up. but it was ultimately the work of thousands in france here that went through and cleaned the organ, the 8,000 pipes, went back throughout the murals and

artwork and cleaned up the grime and the ash. again, rebuilt the roof there, went through each of the limestones the styles on the flooring and meticulously over the course of five years got to this point to have this celebratory reopening here in paris today. of course, the second component of this is the political one. because emmanuel macron here, the very week in which the french government collapsed, his prime minister resigning just two days ago, this is a moment in which he is also looking at a reckoning about the potential commitment or questionable commitment of the u.s. as an ally. donald trump, the incoming president-elect, who will be here meeting with macron just about half hour from now, has threatened to put significant tariffs on all eu goods imported to the united states. but also, there's questions over the trump administration's commitment, to additional ukrainian aid here and the

entire nato alliance. macron has been a steadfast ally to president zelenskyy, who we should note will also be here at this reopening ceremony. the trump team has not indicated to us whether the president-elect intends to meet with zelenskyy himself, but after the trump/macron meeting, there will be a macron/zelenskyy meeting. first lady jill biden will be here in attendance, prince william as well and several other foreign leaders including the kings of jordan, morocco and the president of italy. this will be a major event here this afternoon in paris, guys. >> we've got less than a minute left, but i do want to ask you, i mean, trump has no hard power right now. he can't issue -- having all of these meetings, i wonder what folks on the global stage make of that? >> reporter: this is not normal to have the president-elect go

and have these -- the extent of these types of meetings. of course, president-elect accept phone calls with other foreign leaders ahead of their inauguration. justin trudeau came to mar-a-lago himself. the new nato secretary general came to mar-a-lago to meet with donald trump. and there's an acknowledgment by these world leaders that donald trump is going to be the one here in two months time that is going to be ultimately dictating u.s. policy and not only towards nato and ukraine but also the middle east. look, president macron with the biden administration helped negotiate the cease-fire deal in lebanon between israel and hezbollah. and so, joe biden is still the president at this moment in time. yet in large part, he has creed to donald trump to engage with the press as well as engaging publicly with these foreign leaders as the transition takes

place here and donald trump is slated to take office next month. >> nbc's vaughn hilary, we're so accustom to seeing you in parking lots and deserts across america. i feel you very much deserved this assignment. thank you so much for being with us. >> reporter: i appreciate that. guys, thanks. elon musk and vivek ramaswamy pitch congress on slashing huge chunks of the government. we'll talk about how that's going over. this is "the weekend." t's going over this is "the weekend." ♪♪ over 600,000 usps employees working in sync to ensure everything sent on its holiday ride ends with a moment of joy. ♪♪ the united states postal service. you'll love this! centrum silver is clinically proven to support memory in older adults. so you can keep saying, you mastered it! you fixed it!

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federal employees are actually working in the office. by one estimate it may be 1% if you don't count the security personnel covering these buildings. that absurd. return to common sense the overriding theme here. >> house speaker mike johnson before elon musk and vivek ramaswamys brainstorming sessions on capitol hill. the pair was in d.c. to detail their plans and garner support for the department of government efficiency, a top priority of the department, to cut more than $500 billion in government overspending. they want to kill over 1200 program. 24 make up $470 billion. so why exactly would we need to slash more than 1,000 programs? joining us now everett kelly, president of the american federation of government employees. >> welcome back to the table. good to see you, mr. kelly. let's just start with the new reality that's about to hit washington.

this from vivek ramaswamy and why what he will do is so yummy for him. >> i'm hopeful it will be even good for many of the individuals who may make a transition from government service back to the private sector. >> a complete lack of understanding what public service is, that you know, the private sector is the be all and the end all, and those who want to be in the private sector, guess, what, they're in the private sector. but those who want to work in the federal government, to serve the people of this country as my daddy did, as i did in the early stages of my career, that matters to them. for your employees, hearing this knowing what's about to come to town starting on january 20th, are a group of individuals who don't give a rat's ass about them, who think they're

expendable, who think they're a burden, that costs too much, they should be in offices that are sitting empty. how do you prepare for that? how do your employees prepare for what is about to happen to them coming from a group of people who do not value them in the first place? >> well, first of all, thank you for having me here today. but first of all, you know, it is nerve racking for the employees i represent constantly be called names or when in actualitity, these are the people that make america work. okay? these are doctors in the v.a. hospital that serves veterans. these are scientists that make sure that the water and air we breathe, you know, is good. these are meat inspectors that inspect the food we eat. these are people at the department of education that make sure that, you know, children are given a fair

opportunity for education. you know, and to think that, you know, this administration were to come in and just slash these jobs is absurd. and it is nerve racking to the people that i represent. you know, because they come to work every single day. these are patriotic americans that enjoy providing a service for the american people. and to think that they want to be called names or they want to be -- i mean, everything is balanced on their backs. and they're actually tired of it. i want to tell you the truth. i invite this doj administration to come and sit down and have a conversation with me. right? so that we can figure out, you know, how do we really get to efficiency? okay, because i believe if you really want to know how to do it, ask the persons that's doing it every single day. i think we can get there. >> because there is an appetite, right, to see a more efficient government. >> absolutely. >> and that is bipartisan,

republicans do not have a mo noply to see bureaucracy be efficient. if you sit down with them, what would be the number one recommendation? >> first thing that crossed my mind, i retired from the department of defense, okay. i'm aware of the prices that defense contractors charge the american public to do certain work. that's the first thing i would look at because there's about $740 billion that's spent on defense service contracts versus about 200 billion for federal employees, wages and benefits and those type of thing. i would say we need to look at that first off because i remember at one point where they was charging -- contractors were charging $600 for a hammer to the american public. this is asinine. and these are the things you have to look at. >> it's true. >> and should look at first, not

the federal worker. >> but here is the thing that is important to note, everett what you just said is something that has been talked about going back to the reagan era. where, you know, it was the $600 toilet seat, it was the $1,000 hammer and the cost of providing goods and services by the federal government to the federal government on the backs of voters. so this is nothing new. that's what makes this doj thing such a joke in many respects because this will end up the way all of these things end up, targeting those folks or those programs or those areas that bring the most excitement to the conversation, to get people the most riled up as an example. but the thing you're talking about, the real cost of doing business is not necessarily going to be addressed. because you know why, because

elon musk has contracts in which he's getting more than he should be getting, right? >> absolutely. >> his contracts are padded. >> absolutely. >> so you know, if elon wants to put his contracts for examination on the table and start there in creating efficiency in the government, now we talking. now let's have that conversation. >> absolutely. >> because then you'll see how many people you need to fire after you cut off about a billion dollars that you're going to get that you don't need to get because in the 18 government contracts you got, that's padded in. >> absolutely. >> that now i can tell you from my time both inside and outside the government, i've seen it, you've seen it. >> uh-huh. >> so let's be honest about what we're talking about here. employees are not your problem, right? >> absolutely not. >> it's the process and the politics that put the cash in the contracts. >> absolutely. you know, even elon musk's partner, right, says it's not about saving money. it's not about, you know,

cutting to save funds. so what is it really about? right? that's the question that i need someone on that team to sit down and tell me what is it really about. it's about privatization. it's about putting those contracts into the hands of private contractors so that it becomes about making a dollar and not about the patriotism that the members that i represent have. that's what it's all about. you know, when you start talking about i'm going to cut these jobs, and you haven't even understood yet what the federal employee does every single day, i know exactly what's happening. >> you get that meeting, you come back and talk with us about it. >> yes. >> thank you, i will. >> look at those contracts. >> thank you so much. we have much more to discuss ahead. but first, we want to let you know that you can now listen to "the weekend" podcast ad free. scan the qr code on your screen and subscribe to msnbc premium on apple podcast and take "the weekend" with you any time,

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we're going to bring it. we're going to move it. hey, y'all, welcome back. so look, i just want to get a little bit more -- i am not a big government republican. >> no, you are not. >> i am not. i appreciate the work of federal employees because i was one at one time in my career and my daddy was one in his long career. so i know what that's like.

and i always appreciate the conversation around creating greater efficiencies because the problem is not the personnel. there are a lot of pins in government that there's -- the money is there, but there's no body in those seats. there are efficiencies that can be created. but when you come at government with a sledge hammer, when you have no understanding or appreciation of what it actually does on a day-to-day basis, not to say there aren't departments that can be slimmed and trimmed, sure. and the federal employee will tell you that. and i think everett's last point was an important one, talk to us. we want to do it, too. >> yes. >> i can assure you -- >> number one thing you do when you're a consultant and go into a private business to understand what the ecosystem seasoned what is not working. >> how can we make this better for you or the consumers or the customers that are out here. it just for me is really

bothersome that this seems to be the approach. and at the end game, it's all about how they will grift off of it in the end because, as everett noted, this is about creating a space for private markets to grab government money. in a way that allows them to expand their growth. that's why i say, you know, if you're so much about the efficiency, then let's have doge federal contracts on the table and talk about how to save money there first because i guarantee you haven't been inside the government, i can tell you exactly, that's where it is folks. it's not the person in the seat. it's what's in the paper. it's what's in the contract. that's where the money is. and the federal government that's run by our congress knows it because they're the ones that put the money in the contract. >> i'm ing simone. she would be looking for that contract. all right. >> that's going to do it for

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