donald trump, the chuck grassley, who would have been all over this before donald trump? >> well. >> as chair of. >> the senate judiciary committee. >> senator grassley has an opportunity to still stand up. >> on this. >> and i hope he. senator ernst, other republicans who respect whistleblowers have supported whistleblowers through multiple administrations will do that because, as you have pointed out, this middle of the night purge of these government watchdogs who protect our. taxpayer money was a complete. abuse of power. thinking of all these agencies, you point out the department of defense, where you can now have kickbacks. no one's. watching over it. you will contracts be awarded to the. >> actual lowest contract. no one's watching. >> it over it. and while donald trump's friends may be able to pad their pockets, there is going to be no one watching over for the cost for everyday americans. so there is a straight line, as you know, between corruption and chaos and cost for americans. and that's why we are standing up against this. the fact that these people, they r

chuck grassley has not made that decision yet. why would trump do this? i mean, obviously.raud and corruption at agencies. is there a reason that trump wants them out of the way that we know of? >> so he hasn't. >> given specific explanations. >> for any of. >> these individuals. and actually talking. >> to a lot of folks i know, they were actually surprised by. >> sort of the list of. >> folks who were on here didn't include. for instance, the justice department's. >> inspector general. >> someone that folks had expected to. >> potentially be on the list because he is an obama appointee. and so it's been really interesting looking at the people he chose. some of these folks. are first term trump appointees. >> and so it's not exactly clear. >> individual reasons. for any of these different folks. >> but again. >> this goes back. >> to. >> sort of his. campaign trail promise. >> to sort. >> of. >> root out these deep state elements from the federal government that he believes are, you know, stymied. >> him in. >> the. first term. >> and he. >> thinks. >> they're going to st

weir joined by the great iowa senator chuck grassley and chair of the judiciary committee. senator grassley, wonderful to see you, sir. happy new year and thought you'd react to this high noon dramatic cat's whisker vote victory for speaker pike johnson. what do you think, sir? >> it's key to getting mandate of the november 5 election, which elected president trump once again to get it on the role. if we had to lose one day and one week, who knows how long it could have take and to come up with somebody else. i'm just glad it's over and it's good news for all the people that voted for trump, even if they don't know who speaker johnson is. larry: actually, if they hadn't got it through, you could have been president by january 20th, president protemporal integration of the senate. no speaker and no certification monday or maybe not even januar. as i understand it, you would have stood in line to become president. >> well, president pro tem job is very important job in the united states senate, but i'm just glad that scenario didn't happen because what it would be is blow ever

i love chuck grassley as far as i know, everyone in america loves chuck grassley. so we fully embrace that relationship and are a close partner of his. but the president's authority to fire any federal worker is plenary. there's no lawful constraints that can be placed on the president to terminate a worker in the federal government who exercises discretionary policy. that's the basis of article two and the constitution and the idea of a single executive. when you have anyone in the federal government who exercises decision making authority who can't be fired, then that person is a king, and then we don't have a democracy. >> the law says 30 days, stephen. the law says you have. >> i'm right, and i'm telling you what the constitution says with respect to the president's authority. >> do you think the law is unconstitutional? >> absolutely it is. i don't even think it is. i know it is. >> all right. stephen miller, thanks so much for your time. >> appreciate it. thank you. >> let's get reaction to what we just heard from stephen miller, the white house deputy chief

joining me now iowa senator chuck grassley. it's great to have you, thank you very much for joining us. i would like to start right there with president trump's policies on energy here in davos president trump's resolution of common sense needs to be taking hold in europe as well, your thoughts. >> my thoughts' executive order is exactly the right thing to do and i might say about all the action that is taken in the first 48 hours is like a tornado going through washington, d.c. and this town needs to shake up and i think he's doing it. in regard to the energy program for decades i've always had the best energy program is all of the above that means all the fossil fuels that we need in the alternative energy that we cannot, conservation and nuclear and i think he's headed in the right direction and going to have a very strong ripple effect through the entire economy. it's not just when you put gasoline in your car it will have many times the advantage of cheaper gas for the car. it's exactly what we need to spur this economy an

>> president chuck grassley. if everything goes along that line, the it, i can't say it because i forgot because i haven't practiced law, chuck johnson generally becomes the president, chuck grassley becomes president. a fine guy, done a lot for the country. i don't think chuck grassley wants to be president. ashley: but you he doesn't. great stuff as always. a quick programming note, at 4:00 eastern time on fox business, the terror investigation in new orleans. 4:00 on kudlow. let's get to these markets, strong starch to learn new year after selloff to the end of last year, some profittaking. great to have you here, we talked about downtrends in the market but a bit about momentum into the new year. do you think it is there? >> happy new year to you and yours also. my big issue, there was a laundry list of barriers in stiff downtrends, oil, oddities, transports, economically sensitive managed care, ton of healthcare to have the market to stand fast and tall going into the new year, got to put lows and goes decent

brian mast and chump's war on sanctuary cities with senate judiciary chair chuck grassley and first up lawrence live at the white house. edward, so what do you make up today, edward? what's happening down here? reporter: boy, can we try ask keep up is the issue here. two full days in the trump administration and companies are starting to flock and want to invest in the united states and latest announcement is star gate and data centers that will be based in texas and dealing with artificial intelligence on the first investment to this is $100 billion and that investment is today to expand to $500 billion and this commitment by softbank, open a and i recollects oracle to expand that and 500 billion and ceos with the white house and the reaction is positive. >> we're in a race against communist china and ai and best ai. i think it's my time that we pour money into it. it's the way that it'll -- it's the wave of the future and look, it's the way that battles will be fourth quartering in the future. >> president trump also expressing intent to renegotiate usmca early and it's an agreement

the senate judiciary committee here, chuck grassley overseeing that. pam bondi has a lot of experience, a lot of senators, even democrats talking about that. i don't think there is a question right now about getting through this committee. there is really little doubt that she is going to get approved. a lot of the questions i think today from the democratic side will deal with loyalty to president trump and how much she is willing to be independent as an attorney general. she spent a lot of time as a state attorney general in florida. 18 years as a prosecutor. she will be overseeing about 6,000 federal prosecutors and this loyalty question and how she will be an attorney general i think is really what democrats are going to get to. but in reality, i don't think that they have any hope of derailing this nomination. much like they aren't seeing that in even other controversial what was considered controversial nominations like pete hegseth yesterday. there is now a consensus on the hill that this is moving forward and the president may get all of his pi

brian nast and trump's war on sanctuary cities with chuck grassley but first up, edward lawrence live at the white house. edward, so what are you making up today, edward? what's happening down there? reporter: yeah, boy, can we try and keep up is the issue here. larry, yeah, you said it, two full days into the trump administration and companies are flocking in to invest in the united states. the latest announcement is star gate and data centers based in texas dealing with artificial intelligence. the first investment to this is $100 billion. that investment is today and it'll expand to softbank, open a and openaiand oracle and today e reaction is positive. listen. >> we're in a race to see who is going to pour money into it and that's the wave of the future and also going to look. >> it's going to renegotiate the mca early and agreement he ratified if the first term and renegotiations and starting after july 1, 2026. canada's minister of intergovernmental affairs looking forward to working with president trump's administration to further strengthen collaboration between our two countr

clicks on the floor of the senate majority leader john thune president pro tempore chuck grassley talk about president trump's nominees to be treasury secretary and transportation secretary. >> later today will hold a vote on the nomination of scott bessonur to be treasury secreta. an example of the american dream in action through career in the world of finance. he brings a wealth of private sector experience and the economy and markets to his new role as well as concerned with the needs ofs working american. during president trump's first administration, we passed major tax relief legislation. the tax cuts and jobs act performed our nation's outdated tax code lower tax rates across the board, nearly doubled the standard deduction doubled the tax rate enacted policies for american businesses of all sizes. as a result the economy took off our nation became more competitive. household incomes increase the employment rate at its lowest level in 50 years. now however a lot of that tax relief is close to expiring without action american families and businesses will face a staggering four a

chuck grassley is leading the hearing and will join us with a preview.e been through this before. you are as excited as your first time. your thoughts what pam bondi li will face today? >> she'll get tough questions about things she said in the 2020 election, maybe things that are her own private business that show some conflict. but she's going to have to be well received because of her eight years as attorney general in florida. she is well qualified for this job and committed to carrying out mandate of the november 5 election where the president said he would restore law and order. this trump dosj under bondi wil be law enforcement agency and will not use it for political weaponry against their political opponents as biden doj did. those are things that will reestablish credibility of the doj and i think maybe one of her big responsibilities is going to be to make sure that the fbi has a short leash and does what they are supposed to do, investigate crime instead of being used as political weapon against a presidential candidate. >> brian: kash patel

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable chuck grassley -- charles e. schumer, a senator charles e. schumer, a senator >> .. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 11:45 a.m. on friday, 11:45 a.m. on friday, >> the 118th congress will gavel out for the last time tomorrow and the new congress will begin at noon eastern. you can follow live coverage here on c-span2. as we now return to our booktv programming in progress. >> liability insurance for when they hit someoneik or for when e e-bike operator i is injured, travis industry sort of take over with related and inadequate regulation has harmed commuter cycling and harmha recreational cycling in the city. that's an example of elected officials being cowed by the technology rather than controlling the technology. the same now you talk about uber and lyft, electric vehicles. there's a tendency to say it's electric vehicle so it should be exempt on the cap for for higher vehicles. maybe it should be exemp

that's why chuck grassley spent really his career advocating for exactly these watchdogs. and he's flat footed, i guess this week, watching his party shred his one of his life's mission. >> well, ari, i know you've had this conversation on various times on your show a number of times is, i think, the sort of spectrum of conservative or liberal is no longer applicable in america today, because what donald trump is and how he got elected, he didn't get elected as a principled conservative. his voters didn't vote for him because he was a principled conservative. and i think that spectrum is no longer no longer applies. and i think we're in a situation now. is somebody going to hold donald trump accountable? is somebody going to hold donald trump? and will donald trump be allowed to do whatever he wants to do? and until people like chuck grassley or lindsey graham and i know they often, you know, mince, you know, shrug their shoulders or furrow their brow and say, i don't like the way this is going on. they have not put yet, as of yet, an impediment in donald trump's way to ho

republican senator chuck grassley releasing a statement, saying: there's been no response from the white chuck schumer, said it marked the start of what he called "a golden age of abuse in government". yesterday in the dark of night president trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals and important federal agencies across the administration. this is a chilling purge. it's a preview of the lawless approach donald trump and his administration are taking far too often as he's becoming president. these dismissals are possibly in violation of federal law, which requires congress to have 30 days' notice of any intent to fire inspectors general. these firings are donald trump's way of telling us he is terrified of accountability. for more on this, i spoke to our correspondent david willis. we have seen the tightening of the attempt to tighten the control over the central federal government by the putting in place of these loyalist, we have also seen evidence overnight of an attempt to put loyalists in place in the federal government or perhaps i should say remove those seen as dislo

republican senator chuck grassley demanded further explanation from trump. >>> the fragile cease-fireween israel and hamas is holding for now after both sides reached an agreement to release a civilian israeli hostage who was supposed to be freed saturday. under the new deal israel started to allow palestinians to return to northern gaza this morning. it was supposed to start saturday but israel put it on hold, accusing hamas of violating the terms of the cease-fire. thousands of palestinians have been waiting there for days to go home. the israeli prime minister's office says hamas will now hand over that civilian hospital tan arbel yehud along with agam berger along with an unidentified male hostage on thursday, in addition to three others to be released on saturday. we are learning new details about the four hostages released over the weekend and their time in captivity. israeli media reports one was held alone in a tunnel for a long time. they survived on one pita bread a day and were forced to clean and cook for the terrorists and their families. president trump meanwhile suggest

. >> thank you very much, senator chuck grassley, i look forward to working with you and thinking -- thank you for being a consolidation and what an important topic that is going forward. i would now like to introduce our witnesses. roger alford is a law professor from the university of notre dame. and former deputy assistant attorney general for international affairs with the doj antitrust division. thank you. john newman is a law professor at the university of miami focusing on antitrust and competition. he formally served as the deputy director at the bureau competition within the federal trade commission. gwendolyn cooley is the former chair of the national association of attorney generals , multistate antitrust task force and served as an assistant attorney general for antitrust for the state of wisconsin. from 2005 to 2024, that is a long run. almost as long as mike and me doing this committee. under republican and democratic attorneys general. thank you for that. now we are going to swear witnesses in. it is a tradition of the subcommittee to do that. please stand up and raise

republican senator chuck grassley said he would like further explanation. the drastic shift is part of a flurry of executive action during president trump's first few days in office, which also include the removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. the white house says agencies should determine nate dei employees within 60 days. >> the yays are 59, the nays are 34. >> reporter: meanwhile, the president's cabinet is starting to take shame, with former south dakota governor kristi noem confirmed by the senate this morning to serve as dhs secretary. and pete hegseth is now the secretary of defense, after a tiebreaking vote late friday night. >> i want to thank the president of the united states, our commander in chief, donald trump. it is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you. >> reporter: and nancy, cbs news has learned that the army has told units to prepare for possible deployment, in anticipation of numbers at the u.s. southern border ramping up in the next 24 to 48 hours. nancy? >> willie james inman, thank you. >>> trump's las vegas

what will happen on january 20th, chuck grassley who is the longest serving republican senator, majority senator, he is 92, will become president of the united states, but it is hard to see how the trump agenda passes, how we get a budget deal, how we get tax bill action of any sort. this is a big vote, i'm surprised the markets have ignored it frankly, this is a huge event. >> if they don't elect a speaker by what date, do you think chuck grassley becomes president, basically by the 20th? >> on the 20th, right, if they elect a speaker before the 20th and the house certifies the electoral vote, he could become president. i doubt it'll go that long but it is possible that on monday, which is when the electoral college is supposed to be certified, it is not. >> if you were talking to thomas massey, for those who had philosophical holdouts with mike johnson, making deals with democrats and so forth, what do you tell them? >> well, is he for the trump agenda or not, it is very simple. right now he is voting against the enacting trump agenda if he doesn't vote for the speaker. >> there's goin

but senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley says the firings did not follow the law. grassley's office said in a statement saturday that while there may be a good reason for the president firing them, congress did not get the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands. >> congress put new legal guardrails in place after the last time trump fired a batch of inspectors general and other republican senators raised concerns, including senate majority leader john thune of south dakota. he and other gop senators said they weren't given a heads up, but trump defended his actions last night, saying it wasn't a big deal. >> i don't know that, but some people thought that some were unfair or some were not doing the job, and it's a very standard thing to do, very much like the u.s. attorneys. >> it gets a bit difficult to hear what trump was saying, but basically he was defending what he did. joining me now is lynn sweet, washington bureau chief for the chicago sun-times. lynn, good morning to you. so let's start with president trump's firing of the inspectors genera

republican senator chuck grassley releasing a statement saying: donald trump has defended his actionsand he will be replacing them with people who will be "very good". but the senate minority leader, democrat chuck schumer, said it marked the start of what he called a "golden age of abuse in government". yesterday, in the dark of night, president trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals and important federal agencies across the administration. this is a chilling purge. it's a preview of the lawless approach donald trump and his administration are taking far too often as he's becoming president. these dismissals are possibly in violation of federal law, which requires congress to have 30 days' notice of any intent to fire inspectors general. these firings are donald trump's way of telling us he is terrified of accountability. as we've been hearing, president trump's first week has been busy. ros atkins has been taking a look at his first few days in office. week one of his second presidency and a lot has happened. on monday he was sworn in. i was saved by god to make amer

so republican senator chuck grassley, who leads the judiciary committee, has some concerns about this. and i want to read you a statement that we were provided. he said, quote, there may be good reason the ig's were fired. we need to know that. if so, i'd like further explanati from president trump. regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to congress. i also spoke with senators lisa murkowski and susan collins this morning, who raised concerns with me about trump's decision to do this. but i have to say, most of the republican senators i talked to didn't even know that this had happened until i started asking them questions about it this morning, because just of how late at night trump made these moves. and then, of course, there were some republican senators who just rubber stamped what trump did because they are looking to, you know, be behind him no matter what trump decides to do. i want to also play you what the top democrat in the senate, chuck grassley, had to say about this. >> yesterday in the dark of night, president trump fire

chairman of the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley of iowa. he was among the republicans to praise her. take a listen. >> i think she answered every question appropriately. she had some of the toughest questions you could have. and i think she's going to be a darn good attorney general. >> she's it looks like she is going to be the next attorney general. do you think that there is any one of these nominees who will not be confirmed? >> no, i don't think so. not at this point. >> democrats are pushing very hard. i think for some some of these appointees or some of the appointee nominations. >> pam bondi because of the conversation in her own past, statements around trump's not wanting to give up the fact that he lost the 2020 election, i think that that's very important to be brought up. >> but quite frankly, the republicans in the senate are going to confirm all of these individuals. democrats will not create much of stalwart there. more importantly, i think that for her, she's in pam bondi. she's somebody who was attorney general of one of th

i mean, if he wants to get in a fight with chuck grassley over this, he's going to.e, it's about letting all these people get in charge. you've seen the transfers he's made in the department of justice. you can see some of the other firings he's made. you can see even from the wholly irresponsible, selfish, vindictive action of pulling mike pompeo's security detail. this is a guy who helped to execute the assassination of soleimani in iran at donald trump's order. >> martha: and dr. fauci -- >> yeah. these folks all put themselves at risk. fauci aside, the three on the policy area i'm most concerned about, and there's an active death threat against all three of them because of what then-president trump ordered them to do. he said, remember, i am your retribution during the campaign. that is how he's executing it in part. >> martha: and preet, i want to ask you specifically about the pardons of the january 6th rioters and joe biden had some pardons there at the end as well. >> yeah. look. there are people who have been president of the united states who have engaged i

now, i do want to read for you what we heard from chuck grassley, obviously a very well respected, high profile republican, someone who has long been a defender of these different government watchdogs. this is what he said in a statement to cnn over the weekend. he said, quote, there may be good reason the ig's were fired. we need to know that. if so, he went on to say, i'd like further explanation from president trump. regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to congress. now, we also heard a similar type of statement from senator lindsey graham. obviously a fierce trump ally, over the weekend as well. he kind of shrugged it off, but he did note in an interview that he believes donald trump violated the law with some of these moves. kate. >> elena, thank you so much. shrugging it off. but he did violate the law. there's a combo for you joining us right now to talk more about this is cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jennifer rodgers. jen, what do you just broadly more than 12 ig's fired overnight, if you will. what do you wha

republican senator chuck grassley said he'd like a further explanation, but do we know is there one? >> in this? would we hear? chuck grassley also says the president must provide firing of an inspector general any time it is not clear. what if. nor of course, was. >> okay, we're going to we're going to wait for vaughn and maybe we'll get back to him. maybe since he stepped under that overhang, we have not quite a great signal. but but let me ask you, jeremy, i mean, this is something that's been around since watergate. this is something that was put in place to say you can't have the fox guarding the hen house. so what's happening here? >> right? i mean, exactly. and there is a law on the books that sets very specific parameters for how you can get rid of inspectors general, if that's what you want to do. congress has to be given certain notice, and you just can't do this the way that trump has apparently done it. now we'll have to wait and see. kind of what, if anything, congress under republican control decides to do about this. but as we know, this administration is not a huge fa

. >> reporter: republican senator chuck grassley, part of the bipartisan push to bolster protections government watchdogs called for, quote, further explanation from president trump. >> our thanks to julie for that report. >>> president trump has another cabinet member in place. the senate voted 68-29 to confirm scott bessant as treasury secretary, with 16 democrats joining the republicans. the hedge fund executive will now play a key role in enacting president trump's economic agenda. confirmation hearings will continue this week. wednesday senators will hear from health secretary nominee robert f. kennedy jr. and on thursday, hearings are set for tulsi gabbard and kash patel, who have been picked to lead the intelligence community and the fbi. >>> an indiana man recently pardoned for the u.s. capitol riot has been shot to death by a sheriff's deputy. matthew huddle was involved in a traffic stop when he resisted arrest with a gun on him. the officer who shot him is placed on administrative leapen. he had been charged on entering and remaining on restricted grounds on january 6, 202

senator chuck grassley is on it. so is senator james lankford. they say that inspectors general not only important for for investigating agencies, but also waste, fraud and abuse and, uh, overseeing federal governments or federal budgets as well. so it's going to be interesting to see if congress does anything. it sounds like not a lot. >> and, uh, former long time ago, but former des moines register reporter jeff zeleny knows all too well about chuck grassley's obsession about this. like, i actually think this is what helps get him up in the morning. right? he's so focused on this kind of thing, and he was part of not only is he a member of this new caucus, but he was a big reason this law was updated in 2022. here's what he said about donald trump's move. he said there may be good reason the ids were fired. we need to know that. if so, i'd like further explanation from president trump. regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to congress. >> and let's see what he says after that. i mean, that certa

now, we did hear from one person, senator chuck grassley. someone who has long been kind of viewed as a champion for these different inspectors general and watchdogs. this is what he said in a statement over the weekend. he said, quote, there may be good reason the ig's were fired. we need to know that. if so. he went on to say, i'd like further explanation from president trump regardless. the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to congress. so this is something we're hearing a lot of people again on capitol hill say they want answers to. we'll see how the white house responds. >> all right. alayna treene for us at the white house. thank you very much. with us now, mark gillespie, founder and principal of bluestack strategies, and christine quinn, executive committee chair of the new york state democratic committee. and i have the law, like, right here in my hands. this is we're talking about title five, section 403 of the u.s. code. federal law. an inspector general may be removed by the president, but if

and i think it's worth noting that republicans, including chuck grassley, have long been on the fronts and protecting these individuals who are put inside of these departments and agencies for the sole purpose of cutting government fraud, waste and abuse. and that is the part if you go back to the carter administration in which the inspectors general act was first introduced, and it was actually two years ago amended by the likes of chuck grassley and bipartisan members up on capitol hill to require this 30 day notice and require that a substantive reason be provided. and at this point in time, the some inspectors general who have been informed of this have not been given the substantive reason, nor have we heard from capitol hill them being given a reason. and the white house has so far not provided substantive reasoning for the firings of these 18 igs. >> let me play a little bit from mark greenblatt, the former now former inspector general of the interior. >> if this. >> is an indication. >> from president trump. >> that he. >> wants to put. in folks who won't. >> be conducting. >>

now senator chuck grassley is urging his colleagues to do the same primary role. the federal government is to protect its citizens. >> we all want to laken riley today. the senate voted to move the bill forward and start debate on it. >> democrats want to have a robust debate where we can offer amendments and improve the bill. the republican majority unanimously supports the legislation, but it needs 60 votes to become law. so at least 7 senate democrats would have to vote to pass it to every single member of congress should be able to get behind. this purely common sense. bill that will make our country and communities safer. some democrats say they have concerns with the current bill like senator ron wyden. there are provisions in today's legislation that i would never vote for the final package, but other democrats have committed to voting for it. and senator john fetterman says he thinks it will be enough to pass if we as a party as democrats. we can't come up with 7 rebotes them. i would describe that as one of the reasons why we lost the final vote in the se

republican senator chuck grassley, part of the bipartisan push to bolster protections for government watchdogs, called for, quote further explanation from president trump. and in cabinet news, three of president trump's more controversial nominees will all get their chance in the hot seat this week, including robert f kennedy jr, a vaccine skeptic up to lead the department of health and human services. kash patel to be fbi director. and tulsi gabbard to be trump's director of national intelligence. all of them will get key hearings before the senate this week. in washington. julie sirkin, nbc news. we'll have more coverage of ongoing ice operations later in the newscast coming up at 530. our political analyst larry gerston joins us. he'll discuss president trump's approach to deportations and how much of the american public supports it. they are watching you. the san francisco municipal transportation agency is giving drivers a heads u up about the network of speed cameras going up across the city. they'll be the first in the state to come online in march. here's nbc bay area sergio

chuck grassley basically said the same. you can't do it.s you can't do he is going to try to do and the question is, what constrains him, how actual citizens mobilized and express their disapproval of what he is doing. the inventive news just broke. before i came out here, he has fired department of justice employees who worked on the investigations against him. those people are fired. what do we know about this? >> it is unclear. in order to explain this, put 20 seconds on the clock first sort of something dry but important. there are two types of employees in the federal government and there are political employees and career civil servants who are protected from being fired and the reason we have that is because in the 19th century we developed a federal government that operated and you got the job because you were someone's nephew or you knocked on doors for this guy. we have it so career official cannot be fired at the whims of a president because we don't want to stuff the entirety of the federal government with . to the extent these

. >> chairman chuck grassley expects to advances nomination of the committee on january 27 which couldead to a four vote but things are fluid in d.c., he represents vermont in the house and now the u.s. senate on the judiciary committee. he was also quite an accomplished trial lawyer before coming to d.c. welcome senator it's wonderful to see you. were you looking for in ensuring general and where's the line between this is not the person i would've picked versus this person is not qualified. >> for me, three things, number one is confidence, never to the insurance of the awesome power of the attorney general from political adversaries in something i think is really important the ability inappropriate time to say no if the president is pushing you to do something that you should not. i'll go through them pam bondi is very qualified i admire the career she's had and her grit running for attorney general and i met with her and she reminds me of terms of qualification another lawyer that i served with, trey gowdy she is right up there in the gaudi can't. she is good also the other thing a

the only person who was still in the congress who was serving when carter was in office is chuck grassley's... the most senior majority member of the senate. he moved to the senate in 1981 as carter became president but he was in the house from 1975 to 1981. the other thing about the ceremonies that i find striking is how quiet the capital plaza will get. it's a windy day in washington. we have wins about 30 miles an hour and you will hear this clanging of the flag that is above, right in front of the capital. and then how silent it will be when he lies in-state. even though sometimes later tonight they will have hundreds of people starting to circulate around the casket, the only thing you hear, it echoes throughout the capital because it's so quiet, it's the clicking of the heels of the honour guard standing watch over that casket between now and when he leaves the capital on thursday morning. >> we know that some of his grandchildren are the honorary pallbearers. 1 of which we are seeing on screen. i had the honour of speaking with them yesterday. and just shared some beautiful memorie

iowa senator chuck grassley also took a moment to see carter remembers both of their names on the ballot. back in 1976, is the only sitting member of congress. >> today who served with the carter presidency. >> i remember him fondly. >> visitors will have until tomorrow morning to visit president carter's casket before it's taken to washington national cathedral for the state funeral reporting in washington. i'm basil, john. >> still to come here at 10 o'clock bay area, firefighters joining the effort to contain 6 wildfires burning in los angeles counties. what crews have already been deployed farther south. plus, state and federal officials stepping in to help southern california. how the white house is responding tonight and how one san francisco leaders making history in his new city history in his new city position coming. very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't chang

other events on the senate side, we told you how chuck grassley, republican from iowa will become president pro tem. "i will be sworn in once again as president pro tem. la te and i went was president pro tem was senator cummings, 1999-19 25." as of today tim scott, republican of south carolina becomes the longest-serving black senator in u.s. history, appointed to the senate in 2012 by governor nikki haley. he was the first black republican senator since 1978 and the first black republican senator from the south since reconstruction. senator scott putting out his own comments onheilestone saying this milestone reinforces the progress wha made in amic soh carolina, people consistently judge not on the color of one's skin, but by the content of your character." host: live on capitol hill, we heard from emily brooks about the latest on the speaker race. she is joining us now. thank you for being here. what have you learned? guest: going into this vote, which will happen in a little over an hour, we still don't know if speaker johnson can lock up the vote. it seems likely he will fail the firs

you have dick durbin and chuck grassley -- >> judge jeanine: great idea -- >> jessica: illegal -- >>president trump -- >> jessica: judge, you are a lady of the law. congress gets 30 days to evaluate -- but this is about trump is executing a power grab. he is waiting for it to smack him on the wrist. >> greg: this goes back to what i said before. you had somebody like hegsteth making very practical solutions and you go tuskegee! that was designed to do that and they caught it. that is you, a lack of ideas, you brought up three coequal branches and i'm glad you did. i believe they are the executive, legislative, and judicial, jesse. but that is not what this is about. this is about three other branches, the legislative, the administrative, and the regulatory. we do make laws in the legislative branch, but almost all of the thousands and thousands of rules that we are pummeled with our regulations. laws that are never voted on. instead are created on behalf of the administrative arm of gloating tumor of rent seeking survivalists who are only interested in feathering their nets so when y

maybe give it to chuck grassley per week could have enjoyed some folksy iowa humor and to get away from going forward, you're going to see more vice president running. we all think j.d. vance will run in the future. whether he wins or loses, that may be his role. you want to take the politics out of it after what we saw four years ago. there's a reason the barricades are out there. >> john: those are the hazards of running for president. >> 1836 still holds the distinction of being the only election that was overturned by the electoral college. it was congress who said no, vice president you are not going to get your vice president. ultimately the senate went on and did vote for him. that is the only time the electoral college has been overturned for the most exciting thing to date the last time you'll see a democrat and a republican up on the roster. for a few years you will see a republican vice president and a republican speaker. >> john: even on the way out, biden is mixing things up with his ban on oil leasing and drilling for gas and oil. several places around the country includin

clicks on the floor of the senate majority leader john thune president pro tempore chuck grassley talkmp's nominees to be treasury secretary and transportation secretary. >> later today will hold a vote on the nomination of scott bessonur

. ♪ ♪ if jonathan: top republican senator chuck grassley e is speak out this weekend after presidentinspectors general at a various federal agencies late friday. the iowa senator points out congress was left in the dark, and he says congress is supposed to get a 30-day notice before any i.g. is dismissed. grassley says there may have been good reason they were axed, but he wants an explanation. meanwhile, president trump is standing by the move saying it was, quote, a very common if thing to do. alicia: more of president trump's cabinet picks preparing to face the senate after defense secretary pete hegseth and dhs secretary kristi noem were sworn in over the weekend. health and human services nominee rob f. kennedy jr. and director of national intelligence nominee tulsi gabbard both preparing for their confirmation hearings in the coming days. do these controversial picks face a tough road ahead? if let's ask real clear politics' phil wegmann. phil, good to see you. you know, or this past week was filled with so much drama. it came down to the wire friday night. what are you looking

senator chuck grassley a republican of iowa said there may be good reason the ag's were fired we need to know that if so would like further explanation from president trump regardless the 30 day detailed notice of removal of the law demands was t provided to congress. i want to play key reaction from a democrat in the senate. >> i am disappointed in republican so far they've not spoken out. many of these inspectors general have been very critical of democratic administration. they are bipartisan independent and we need to preserve that for them. i challenge my republican colleagues and the president to reverse this decision. mike: what is your take on it congresswoman kuester. >> god bless donald trump for shaking up these are individuals the ig the inspectors in general are supposed to be nonpartisan. this must be rooting out corruption. what i found my first four years in office in congress they did more covid than they do anything else. i've had folks of these agencies and that ig show up without documentation the oversight committee has asked that show up they don't have the answe