chair graham: is 1%. having said that, try to save money, let's don't waste money but i believe and i am a hawkish guy, if you don't get involved in the world and don't have programs in africa where china is trying to buy the whole continent, we are making a mistake. it is 1% of the budget and if you eliminate it you won't balance the budget. i think soft power is a critical component of defending america and our values. i look forward to working with you to make that count better, but the concept of soft power it a lot to me and that is coming from a pretty hawkish guy. senator merkley? sen. merkle: thank you very much, mr. chairman. on day one, president trump issued an executive order that requires agencies to cause a disbursement of funds that were authorized, the inflation reduction act and the infrastructure investment in jobs act. there is a legal mechanism for changing passed law called the rescission. it is an illegal way. will you send a rescission message to congress, or use the illegal impound

chair graham: senator lujan. sen.an: you authored sections of project 2025 ways sets forth a blueprint for dangerous plans under this new administration. you would have in a norma's responsibility at omb and even your record i have serious questions about whether you could be trusted to carried out the safeguard programs that many americans rely on like medicare, medicaid, social security and anymore. you also authored this money he 23 budget proposal at a foundation that i believe you helped to found over at the center for renewing americans, is that correct? mr. vought: i did help found that and put that together. sen. lujan: you stand by your name? mr. vought: i am not here to talk about those proposals. sen. lujan: it is simple, do you stand by your name and word? mr. vought: i appreciate it because you signed this document and this is your signature, i appreciate that. in 2021, what was the reason for founding the center? mr. vought: we wanted to continue the work on policies that were based on the principles of

so, i am urging the senate budget committee chair lindsay graham to hold russ vought's nomination that was supposed to occur thursday. they should not advance that until the trump administration follows the law. the law is the law. the trump administration must immediately reverse course, follow the requirements of that law and make sure that the nation's spending laws are implemented as congress intended. >> as much as trump desires it, the president is not a king. as much as trump desires it, the law is not a suggestion. these are not questions of opinion. these are principles at the heart of our constitutional system. it is at the heart of our checks and balances and thus we have a constitutional crisis. just last week, russell vought came before the budget committee in a hearing and the things he spoke to laid out a three part plan. part one salvage the programs that families depend on and thrive to move into the middle class. part two, borrow trillions and run up the deficit. part three, give massive tax give aways to the wealthiest americans. what we saw last night was a huge imp

senator lindsey graham, budget chair says-- or he indicated last week he was going to forge ahead as planned, writing plans for a budget that's more narrow, specifically focused as you know you can't have reconciliation at all if the senate and house are passing different budgets. what are you going to do about this? you and thune have talked. you're still on different pages. >> we'll get on the same page. lindsey graham is a good friend as is ted cruz who has been a big advocate of the two bill strategy in the senate. they have very different factors to consider that be i do in the house. 150 more personalities to deal with, we have much more diverse caucus in the house than they do in the senate. for example, on the salt issue you know, my colleagues from new jersey and new york and california one of their biggest priorities, it's not even a thought, really, in the senate because republican senators come from red states and salt is just not a thing for them. so, i have a-- much more complex decision matrix than the senate has and sometimes i feel like that may be underappreciated b

chair durbin: thank you, senator graham. we have an immigration sub-committee and chairing that committee is senator padilla and ranking member of senator cornyn. each asked for a chance to make an opening statement. i recognize senator padilla. sen. padilla: thank you, mr. chairman, and senator graham. i want to thank each and every one of the witnesses that are here today for obviously a timely and important discussion but taking place during an uncertain and unnerving time uh for many in our nation's history. i'm gonna deviate for a second from my prepared remarks just to a knowledge what senator graham has begun to lay out. this issue is certainly complex. it doesn't do the issue and the challenge justice to just say, well, there's so many immigrants in america, so many, some people say illegal. some people say undocumented immigrants in america. when you really must break it down, it's a number of categories. are there some number that beyond being in the country, undocumented, may be involved with unlawful activities? y

chair crapo: thank you, senator graham. we appreciate you giving the introduction and now you are excused, as is our practice. mr. bessent, before we turn it over to you for your opening statement i have four questions we ask all nominees that come before the committee. the first is, is there anything you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you have been nominated? mr. bessent: no, sir. chair crapo: second, do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would prevent you from fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office which you have been nominated? mr. bessent: no, sir. chair crapo: third, do you agree without reservation to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of congress if you are confirmed? mr. bessent: yes, sir. chair crapo: finally, do you commit to provide a prompt response in writing to any question addressed to you by any senator on the committee? mr.

so i am urging the senate budget committee chair lindsey graham, a fellow appropriator, to hold russ votes nomination that was supposed to occur this thursday. republicans should not advance that nomination out of committee until the trump administration follows the law. the law is the law. the trump administration must immediately reverse course, fall the requirements of that law and make sure that the nation spending laws are implemented as congress intended. >> as much as trump desires it, the president is not a king. as much as trump desires it, a law is not a suggestion. he's in the questions of opinion. these are principles at the heart of our constitutional system, at the heart of our checks and balances and thus we have a constitutional crisis. just last week russell vought came before the budget committee any hearing, andle the things hs woke about laid out a a threet plan for this administration. part one, ravage the programs of families depend on the gun the feet and thrive in move in the middle class. part two, borrow trillions and run up the deficit. part three, give mas

you know, even lindsey graham was the budget chair, i don't agree with him on some things. i agree on other things but he said himself back in november, he posted on x he was in favor of one big bill. now all of a sudden he's changed his mind, but i know that senator ted cruz is going to go along with president trump for one big bill. is that right? you'll lead the senate, sir? >> well listen. i think the procedural question of whether it's one big or two bill is less consequential than l the simple point. we have to get this done and we have a task in front of us that we must accomplish. i think president trump at the end of the day will have the flexibility to decide whether he wants it in one or multiple bills. i will say, one bill i think politically will prove harder to get done. if you have a giant bill that you throw everything in the kitchen sink in particularly in the house when you have an exceedingly small majority, that that can be very difficult to get the votes to pass it. we saw that just recently with the continuing resolution right before the holidays that

i also again, want to acknowledge chair durbin, ranking member graham, and of course, the always present senator grassley who actually texted me this morning about my christmas card. it was pretty impressive. so i would like to thank our committee staff for working together so well, and to thank -- thank phil especially, dan, my counsel, our entire team for their work, and i will turn it over to senator lee for his opening remarks. >> thanks so much, madam chairwoman. i do enjoy working with you and one regret i have for this congress is we didn't take better advantage of the term klobu-chair. there aren't many names that fold right into it. >> just when i got the chair, you tell me this. just when you guys -- you are the chair. this is a moment. okay. >> it was the beginning of last congress. >> oh, thanks. i forgot. >> i do remember -- i think it was the same hearing or at least a related one that you were talking about a moment ago. you pointed out very astutely that one of the song writers, everything he said sounded like a country music song, and it didn't even require alteration. h

in an era where so many people debate everything politically, republican chair chuck grassley said that in reaction, lindsey graham, meanwhile discussing the purge. >> do you think he violated. >> the law? well, technically. >> yeah, but. >> he has the authority to do it. so i'm not, you know. losing a whole lot of sleep that he wants to change the personnel out. >> well, joined by richard painter, university of minnesota law professor, he served as a chief white house ethics lawyer in the bush administration and msnbc analyst matthew dowd. richard, walk us through first what these watchdogs do, what these rules are, and then your view of this development. >> well, first, senator graham. >> is wrong that these are not just personnel who are appointed to carry. >> out the president's directives. >> the inspectors general have been. >> installed pursuant. >> to an. act of congress as independent watchdogs in the federal agencies. >> and waste, fraud. >> and abuse is what they investigate. >> and if we want to make this government more efficient, which is this so-called doge that elon musk has set up, that's what the

i worked closely with ambassador linda thomas-greenfield on this as the chair of the appropriating subcommittee. senator grahamand i worked well with her to increase funding for junior professional officers, to increase funding for the u.n. mission. if confirmed, will you look to continue this work to make sure that americans and american friendly leaders compete for and succeed at leaving the technical organizations of the u.n. and compete for and succeed at staffing the junior levels at the u.n.? rep. stefanik: yes. thank you, senator coons, and i enjoyed our discussion. this is one of my top priorities. it came up in every single conversation get i think the success story of successfully having a candidate to defeat china's candidate in the intellectual property organization, that is a model we need to continue to use in these other technical organizations. there is bipartisan support, as tom cotton mentioned in his opening statement. i was one of the founding members of the china task force, which led to the setting up of the bipartisan china select committee. so there is bipartisan interest. i also suppor

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graham is putting out there. he is saying that all of these chinese companies have a secret golden chair that forces them to giveback at 285 of them are listed on nasdaq and the new york stock exchange. as far as i look at that is illegal. so there's a whole lot of stuff going on here. and it ain't got. >> sandra: we know that you are our in it because we know you are looking at companies like tiktok and president trump said this just yesterday. these were remarks about that. lesson. >> i have a little biased toward tiktok right now. me if i'm a little bit -- i became a little bit jaded with tiktok, but we will see what happens. we have a lot of people betting on it. >> sandra: i do know, but where are you on this bidding war, mr? >> frank and i are still in it. whoever buys it, you're going to have to solve for the act for congress and 9-0 decision from the supreme court to specifically you can use a single line of the 5 billion lines of chinese code. so that is why i'm saying at the end of the day, why don't we solve this problem once and for all? we will just rewrite the thing and make sure that it abides by

i worked closely with ambassador linda thomas-greenfield on this as the chair of the appropriating subcommittee. senator graham and i worked well with her to increase funding for jenny -- junior professional officers, to increase funding for the u.n. mission. if confirmed, will you look to continue this work to make sure that americans and american friendly leaders compete for and succeed at leaving the technical organizations of the u.n. and compete for and succeed at staffing the junior levels at the u.n.? rep. stefanik:. yes thank you, senator coons, and i enjoyed our discussion. this is one of my top priorities. it came up in every single conversation get i think the success story of successfully having a candidate to defeat china's candidate in the intellectual property organization, that is a model we need to continue to use in these other technical organizations. there is bipartisan support, as tom cotton mentioned in his opening statement. i was one of the founding members of the china task force, which led to the setting up of the bipartisan china select committee. so there is bipartisan interest. i a

chair south dakota congressman dusty johnson. always a pleasure to see you. so is it going to be one big reconciliation bill on trump's desk by april? lindsey graham is also talking about two bills. where do you stand because the tax cuts $4 trillion worth of taxes are about to go up. >> on sunday night i'll have dinner with president donald trump and we're going to talk about it and ultimately he is quarterback of the football team. he's going to make the play call and we're going to go execute. now there will be disagreements about exactly what is in one package or two but liz i'll be honest with you. no matter how we structure it, in the end, we are going to secure the border. we are going to unlock american energy. we're going to pushback against the chinese communist party and we're going to shove the woke out of our military and out of the federal government. we have got to get these things done and again, on sunday, over dinner, president trump and i are going to talk about what is the right way to get that done. liz: absent tax cuts can trump do a lot of this and overturn a lot of biden's policies via executive orders? like shutting the bo

graham. then there will be a call to order by amy klobuchar, the chair of the joint congressional inaugural ceremonies be a musical performance from carrie underwood, joined by the armed forces chorus and navy academy glee club. and then a multifaith benediction rabbi, pastor sewall, and reverend frank man, they all join in for the effort. and then the festivities get underway in the capitol dome. justice brett kavanaugh will be administering the oath of office around 11:30 two jd vance and then chief justice john roberts will deliver the oath of office for the president himself who will then go to emancipation hall to give his remarks. with its 1300 seats. quite a bit more than one can fit in the capitol dome. you can of walk -- of course watch all of the remarks in their entirety in this afternoon there is that inaugural lunch. this is statuary hall on the house side of the capital where the inaugural lunch will take place. we also got an update from the joint inaugural committee on the menu for the lunch. the first course, chesapeake crab cake paired with a wine from veritas vineyards. it's a chard