chairman. >> no. state mr. chairman of the 8th or seven in the nazar 10. >> wide number two. thank you chairmen are you talking wyden number three? >> it says two. this is on tranche two. colleagues this basically takes what might finance committee republican colleagues have said through the course the day which is they didn't want tax breaks for the people at the top of billionaires the very wealthy and the likes and as soon as i heard them say that i said that's got some potential. that something went to be able to find common ground around so what i have done is essentially placed the thoughts of my finance committee republicans over the course of the day and to this amendment and would ensure we protect the middle class protect tariffs as well this is about whether we can find common ground the way the senate finance committee used to do it in builds on what i heard my republican colleagues saying today. >> mmf threatens the budget resolution and therefore it's out of order. i moved to tabl

chairman. i've read chairman.negligent administration announced it wason implementingn the policy to arbitrarily cut health funding that supports biomedical research to institutes across the country. and capping in indirect cost per chip funded grants that policy would cut funding that is essential to conducting research by operating and maintaining labs and research facilities. that is in clear violation of our annual appropriations bill which have included an explicit prohibition on nih implementing politics like this in 2010. when i was ranking member of the subcommittee i work closely with my republican colleagues. fortunately now with a apposite policy. let's be clear if the administration were to be successful and gutting nih funding in this way it would be absolutely catastrophic for lifesaving research patients and families that are counting on it including lifesaving cancer research in my home state of washington and many other institutions in other states nationwide. research would come to a hault and ki

chairman. colleagues, this instruction is to, in effect, prevent medicaid from being cut. because it allows the opportunity to cut medicaid. as i said, our choice here is are we gonna be there for working people? because most of the folks who are on medicaid are working. they're also taking care of families and walking an economic tightrope every month, balancing bills and health care costs. we had some discussion earlier about nursing homes. nursing home patients take much of the medicaid budget. so if you are for the patient's, if you are for vulnerable people, i will disclose with them. the senate is a rural institution. you get these deep medicaid cuts -- by the way, house republicans released their budget today. their plans spell out what is ahead. this is not some abstract to deal. there are cuts of nearly $1 trillion or more aimed at medicaid. and for rural america, for the vulnerable across the land, this is the safety net they rely on. i urge all my colleagues to support striking the f

chairman. colleagues, this instruction is to, in effect, prevent medicaid from being cut. because it allows the opportunity to cut medicaid. as i said, our choice here is are we gonna be there for working people? because most of the folks who are on medicaid are working. they're also taking care of families and walking an economic tightrope every month, balancing bills and health care costs. we had some discussion earlier about nursing homes. nursing home patients take much of the medicaid budget. so if you are for the patient's, if you are for vulnerable people, i will disclose with them. the senate is a rural institution. you get these deep medicaid cuts -- by the way, house republicans released their budget today. their plans spell out what is ahead. this is not some abstract to deal. there are cuts of nearly $1 trillion or more aimed at medicaid. and for rural america, for the vulnerable across the land, this is the safety net they rely on. i urge all my colleagues to support striking the f

chairman. chairman powell, thank you. i don't want to insult you in any way, but i hear you're a deadhead. chair powell: i'll own up to that. [laughter] >> so i assume that with a few words oftentimes you could, you would know one of the songs of the grateful dead. so i'm going to give you here a quote to see if you know who said this. "the risk of a dispute over the position could be a distinction, a distraction, excuse me, to our mission." do you know who said that? chair powell: no, i don't. >> michael barr did. and i would be remiss if i didn't say and mention that what governor barr did was recently was very selfless and noble. the rest of that quote, by the way, is "in the current environment i've determined that would be more effective in serving the american people from my role as a governor." so i think he himself took the position that it would be a distraction to continue in that role. i personally think he's a person of great distinction that always managed himself in a way that was appropriate, and i apprecia

chairman. chairman cotton: thank you mr. vice chairman.e welcome back senator richard burr, the former chairman of this committee who has emerged from retirement to introduce miss gabbard that still in retirement still seems unable to find a pair of socks. [laughter] nonetheless we say thank you and welcome you back. >> certainly very predicable mr. chairman. chairman cotton, members of this distinguished committee, i want to thank you for allowing me to join you today to provide my thoughts and support on behalf of tulsa gabbard's nomination t be director of national intelligence. this is my first visit back to the senate in slightly over two years. permit me to say from this side of the dais you are not as intimidating as i thought when i was on your side of the dais. when i was chairman of this committee, senator warner and i stuck to a single refrain with our staff. follow the facts wherever they lead. today, an anonymous person or group launching a campaign using rumors as sources and accusations as fact can drive the outcome of an el

let me stop there and i want to thank the chairman here today, chairman scott, chairman bozeman , chairman thompson and i look forward to working with them as part of the administration to help turn president trumps policy into reality. this was a week one priority for the administration and we are excited that our counterparts in congress are equally committed to ensuring american dominance in digital assets. i look forward to working with each of you. with that, i would say work with each and you -- each of you in creating a golden age in digital assets. i will turn it over to chairman scott. >> i think it represents promises made, promises kept. i love the campaign trail when president trump was out there making promises and we see today he's keeping those promises. -- growing up in a single-parent household, hoping that the american dream would be accessible for me. we are standing at the precipice of greatness for so many kids who are looking forward to democratization, having access points for their families and for themselves that makes it easier and less expensive to do business in

chairman. chairman cruz: senator schmitt. senator schmitt: i want the committee to imagine that taiwan is under siege, the ccp determined to crush taiwan's resistance and prevent a u.s. response activates a multipronged strategy leveraging its control over global words and shipping infrastructure. at the panama canal, one of america's most vital trade arteries handling 40% of the u.s. container traffic. chinese controlled ports at both ends suddenly close. ships carrying food, oil, and military supplies are turned away because of technical difficulties, paralyzing the global economy. gasoline prices soar, supermarkets empty and supply chains collapse within days. china's state-owned zpmc, which supplies 80% of u.s. cranes, has equipped their cranes with cellular modems that create explosive vulnerabilities -- exploitable vulnerabilities. these cranes at u.s. ports mysteriously malfunction, halting critical operations, factories close, millions lose their jobs. while this scenario may seem hypothetical, it is entirely plausibl

chairman. a partisan guiding principle has been maximizing economic prosperity. it's the single greatest factor in delivering opportunity in improving the quality of life for folks back home. the actions of the federal reserve and the machinery of monetary policy play an important role in economic stability, with the five-year review of monetary policy framework underway, hope this would be an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the feds toolkit and its vast influence on the lives of every american. the creation of the new monetary policy treasury market resilience, and economic austerity task force will afford us the opportunity to dive deeper into this topic. chairman powell, thank you for being here. there are real issues that deserve our attention and i hope that today will be productive. i look forward to hearing your testimony on the state of the economy, where we are at and where we are headed. i go back, mr. chairman. >> the chair recognizes mr. vargas for one minute. >> thank

chairman. >> senator van hollen. senator van hollen: thank you, mr. chairman and colleagues. it was just a few weeks ago i think that in the regular senate budget committee room we had a hearing for a vote, nomination to be head of o.m.b., at that time senator murray and i both asked him a direct question, whether he would commit to complying with the law, including the impoundment control act. he refused to say yes. now he's over at o.m.b. and we see a whole lot of illegal actions going on which is why our courts are now filled with various actions and complaints and judges are issuing t.r.o.'s. it would be helpful if our colleagues would help those lawyers defend article 1 because they're shredding article 1. and i think it's also important to remember who russell vought is. he's the architect of project 2025. what is project 2025? it's the plan, the blueprint, that candidate trump when asked about it said, i don't know anything about it. i don't know who those people are. and yet he went abo

chairman of south dakota.ughter] we go back and forth as to the number one we producing state kansas or north dakota on a regular basis. we work together a lot. let me acknowledge all of our witnesses here today. i do want to thank you for being here almost panel, we have mr. nathan read who is on the board of directors for the national council from marianne arkansas. mr. kenneth hartman junior, president of the national corn growers association. thank you for being here, mr. keith felty, thank you for being here. president, national association growers from altus oklahoma. not north dakota arkansas. we been bragging about our wheat, are you close to the kansas border? >> i'm in southwest oklahoma. >> okay. mr. chris ingalls died president of the national barley growers association from fertile minnesota, i certainly know where that is. amy france chair of the national sorghum producer scott city kansas. josh y introduced a minute ago mr. garrett moore, member of the u.s. peanut federation from chancellor alab

chairman. the chair will ruggedized the regular number of the full committee for five minutes. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. i am concerned by reports suggesting that republicans would rather spend $70 billion in spectrum auction proceeds on tax cuts for the rich instead of investing this money in bipartisan public safety priorities such as next-generation 911, which is going to save the lives of a lot of americans including first responders. let me go to mr. lewis. to the best of your knowledge has congress ofpe a director spectrum auction proceeds to pay for tax cuts billionaire? >> not to my knowledge. >> all right. why is using spectrum auction proceeds to deploy ng911 networks a worthwhile investment, if you would? >> i view ng911 as an important public interest need that makes all americans benefit from secure networks faster than emergency services. and it matches the mandate of teleommunications act that says we should push of all americans connected to a reliable, secure, affo

chairman. i yield back. chair latta: the chair recognizes the chair of the full committee, the gentleman from kentucky, for five minutes for an opening statement. >> thank you, chair latta. i really look forward to working with your leadership on this guiding the energy subcommittee with the ranking member, my friend from florida, and to all of our new members. welcome, and i look forward to your contributions as well. the availability and affordability and reliability of american energy in its delivery systems is fundamental to enabling our nation to make and do things. to grow manufacturing, advance ai, heat our homes, fuel our cars, and produce the goods and services we all rely upon. our work this congress will aim to enable the nation to grow, prosper, and assert global leadership in an adversarial world, and we will work hard to improve the lives and economic security of those in the communities we represent. today's hearing opens our discussion of the reforms needed to usher in a golden

chairman. it's no secret that we disagree on things. we have sharp principles but i believe you are a principled public servant who cares about this country. our financial systems are facing huge risks from the economic chaos of president trump and his co-president elon musk from on again/off again tariffs to on again/off again layoffs for tens of thousands of government workers to on again-off again cuts in domestic green purchases to support in medical research. now, co-president musk and his o.m.b. director have those frozen all work at the consumer protection bureau. there are now zero cops overseeing the $18 trillion consumer lending market. zero cops. investigations into illegal foreclosures and auto repossessions, canceled. exams of giant credit card issues to we'd out unlawful fees, canceled. rules to save people billions of dollars, canceled. if musk and his o.m.b. director succeed in killing that organization it's like putting a sign on every checking account, credit card, mortgage ap

chairman.i have to admit though that i was apprising congress let spectrum auction authority labs alone for two years at least we can say that that house trying to reauthorize spectrum auctions and thus congress this clearly means a top priority for members of the committee both sides and as we move forward, we shouldn't simply just be thinking about reinstating auctions but also considerable process reforms that in the past federal agencies have attempted to study auctions and sometimes even after an option they want provisional licenses predict mre uncertainty a post- auction agency la impacted the value of spectrum license and book it comes to to address these problems in the future. soon i think you and your exactly right, k-uppercase-letter's uncertainty and think you for asking tens of billions of dollars on an asset the be able to quickly venues that to deliver services to the consumers and unfortunately, that is not always the case recently pretty comes back to what mr. rinaldo said abo

chairman. chairman cotton: thank you mr. vice chairman. we welcome back senator richard burr, the former chairman of this committee who has emerged from retirement to introduce miss gabbard that still in retirement still seems unable to find a pair of socks. [laughter] nonetheless we say thank you and welcome you back. >> every single time. if she is guilty of anything, since she was were born, her views, opinions and beliefs have evolved to reflect her life experiences. winston churchill once said those that never change their minds never change anything. she served her city, her state, or country while winning the support of the people she represented. she has fought in war and, yes, she has tried to stop wars. at the age of 43, she has the life experiences that match or exceed most members of congress. she was serving in uniform three years before some of us here today voted to create the director of national intelligence. chairman cotton, members of the committee, it is my honor to support and introduce to the committee lieutenant colo

chairman. chair powell, it is no secret that you and i disagree on the need for strong bank regulation on monetary policy and on the fed's stock trading scandals. we have sharp differences, but i believe you are a principled public servant who cares for this country. we are at an unprecedented moment. our financial systems are facing huge risks from the economic chaos of president trump in his copresident elon musk. from on-again-off-again tariffs on again-off-again layoffs and tens of thousands of government workers, again-off-again cuts in domestic purchases, tana again-off-again support for medical research. now, copresident musk and his director have frozen all work at the consumer financial protection bureau. there are now zero cops overseeing the $18 trillion consumer lending market. zero cops. investigations into illegal foreclosures and auto repossession canceled. exams of giant credit card issuers to weed out unlawful junk fees, cancel. probes of illegal debt collection practices cance

chairman.mittee republicans want to talk about unleashing american energy at a time when president trump is blatantly breaking the law. law that is helping us unleash american energy and reduce energy costs for american families. on a first day in office president trump illegally froze billions ofan dollars in investment in the energy sector passed into law by congress that action filed by office of management and budget that halted across the government including medicaid and trump is stealing forcl the american peoe but congressional republicans appear to have inco problem with that. they've been virtually silent as trump and his administration continue to defile the law fortunately ruled in fair of party seeking to put a stop to this unconstitutional power grid andan today i'm sending letters with sub committee ranking members to the department of energy and other agencies within our committee jurisdiction demanding that congressional funds be districted immediately we want to know what fund

whether chairman, i have seen the video you sent out. it is utterly disgusting to the american taxpayer that we are funding that kind of behavior. all of these programs gave usaid a black eye. and that's unfortunate because you go back to the marshall plan, really, the genesis for thinking about usaid, the marshall plan was one of the most successful programs we endeavored in after world war ii to make sure that hitler never rose from the ashes again. the suit for peace program you discussed, the american farmer benefits from this, extremely successful. why was usaid created in the first place in 1961? it was to counter the soviet union during the cold war. i believe it still has a legitimate purpose to counter the rising threat of china and belt and road and our other foreign adversaries. it also has the ability to counterterrorism. lindsey graham and i passed the global fragility act, state, dod, usaid all working together to stabilize destabilized nations which breeds terrorism. pepfar, one of the most successful global health program

chairman. chairman: senator brill? senator: thank you, mr. chairman. we been referencing elon musk, the work of doge, it is important to remember the trump ran on this. he said that we would look for wasteful spending across the government. we are $36 trillion in debt. it's morally irresponsible. the difference between this administration and the last administration is that trump is the final arbiter and it's interesting that none of you had anything to say over the last four years when it's clear that the commander-in-chief wasn't in command in if we are going to use the term copresident, let's go back and say copresident -- copresident jill biden. it seems that some of the biggest decisions were made during the president's afternoon nap time. we need to be a little bit more honest about what has been laid out and what's actually occurring. chair powell, i do want to discuss some monetary policy issues, but first i want to highlight some supervisory items. unfortunately, we started 2023 with several bank failures in the fed itself admitted that their

chairman. we are very fortunate that we actually will be joined soon by the ambassador to the united nations, elise stefanik, so that will certainly enhance our hearing today. with that in mind, as we consider the state of education, i know firsthand of the positive parts of this in that i am grateful my wife taught at an alternative school, giving young students the opportunity of a second chance. my father served on the school board in charleston, south carolina. my wife and i appreciate teachers, who are after the third grade. our four sons succeeded in math only because of educators, resulting in our oldest son being the attorney general of south carolina, our second son is an orthopedic surgeon, and our third son is commercial real estate, and our youngest is an industrial engineer. these successes are really due to educators making a difference. with that in mind, i believe it's because of the success of local elected school boards, and i very much support president donald trump for his c

chairman. chairman cotton: thank you mr. vice chairman. we welcome back senator richard burr, the former chairman of this committee who has emerged from retirement to introduce miss gabbard that still in retirement still seems unable to find a pair of socks. [laughter] nonetheless we say thank you and welcome you back. >> committee, it's my honor to support and to introduce to the committee lieutenant colonel tulsi gabbard. thank you, mr. chairman. chairman: thank you, senator burr. our colleague, joni ernest has taken time from her schedule to introduce tulsi as well. senator ernst. joni: thank you, and good morning to my distinguished colleagues. i want to take a moment to recognize the lives that were lost in the collision near d.c.a. last night. sen. ernst: it is a tragedy and my prayers are with the victims and their loved ones. thank you. duty, honor, service. these are not just words, they are principles that have guided lieutenant colonel gabbard. as a young enlisted soldier in the hawaii national guard, she entered the call of dut

chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i don't think the american people were up in arms about purging the department of justice or the f.b.i. i don't think they were up in arms wanting a stop or freeze to federal grants to states. i don't think they were up in arms calling for the n.i.h. to take action that will result in the halting of medical research. no, what they were up in arms was let's lower the price of food, milk, bread, they're still waiting. so here we are, mr. chairman, talking about the nomination of kash patel. this man has so many red flags about why it is completely inappropriate to have him as the head of one of our most important law enforcement agencies that it makes your head spin. one thing is very clear about kash patel. he has 100% loyalty to trump. that is the most critical thing for president trump. we are at a crisis point, and this committee that plans to conduct any oversight, it must do so now. and here's what's happening at the f.b.i. dozens of senior career f.b.i. and d.o.j. employees have

chairman. when i was chairman of this committee i got congressional notifications of the spending programs from usaid and state department. i i put holds on those, many listed by the program. instead of working with me the administration the prior biden administration decided to blow through those holes bucking a long-standing tradition. i want to go through some those i put on hold 1.5 million to promote lgbtq causes for immigrants in latin america. allowing them to litigate against foreign governments primarily catholic nations. i do not know how that advances the u.s. interest abroad. and as a catholic myself i find that very offensive. we heard about 30 minds for, absent contraception's to afghanistan. $15 million. what did usaid do? they blew through my holds. complete and utter disregard of this committee oversight responsibilities. i also uncovered the department spent $500,000 to advance atheism in nepal. atheism in a country or tibetan buddhists is a predominant religion. what does tha

chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly. thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly to my colleague, senator durbin. senator, i listened carefully to what you said. i do not know a single member of this body that condones what happened on january 6. and i want to be very clear. but the united states supreme court has been very clear. the united states supreme court has ruled that the united states department of justice overcharged many of the january 6 defendants using an enron-era obstruction of justice statute. i don't see anything wrong with the department of justice under new leadership finding out or trying to find out why that happened. i'm curious. i know you are a good lawyer, you should be curious, too. that's the only point i wanted to make. chair grassley: before you speak, i think i want to clarify what i have been trying to -- point i have been trying to make. so i want to run this markup the way chairman durbin did. he asked members to, quote, wait until each nominee is called. if they wish to make a comment on a specifi

real quick, chairman. he said yesterday that as long as you are chairman, the u.s. will never have a central-bank digital currency. is the federal reserve or any of its member banks conducting studies either for retail or wholesale purposes? >> i mean, we are not doing any work that is designed to lead to a retail cbdc. we don't have a legal authority to do one. the notion of a wholesale cbdc is not when we think about or accept. take fed wire. fed wire is a real-time digital process are of dollars every day between banks. is that a cbdc? >> the gentleman's time is expired. >> chairman -- the gentleman yields back. chairman garcia is recognized for five minutes. >> now questioning chair powell. collects pleasure visiting with you. i'm going to talk about a topic that boasts congressman gonzales and representative presley brought up which is something i think does impact the federal economy but i know it certainly does impact my district in texas. i'm concerned about president trump's mass deportation efforts and the impact on your dual mandate. i believe the last ti

chairman. and welcome, chair powell. chair powell, i am worried about these tariffs. and i want you to kind of share with us your thoughts on these tariffs. i think the president is wrong here. tariffs can cause a terrible situation to the economy. i am concerned about the inflationary impact on tariffs and where cost increases from the tariffs. there is a cost to these tariffs. and we need not move into this area blindly. and some of these costs will be observed by business companies, but there are other costs that will be borne by the american consumers. we don't even understand it. and now you have the president using these tariffs as a means of fighting. everybody is not going to be mexico or canada. and while we've got a little time, i want your thoughts on the dangers of these tariffs. the stock market is anticipating rate cuts. what will these tariffs do about that? does the fed see market stability as a factor in its decision-making process when considering the rate cuts? and here is sp

chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly. thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly to my colleague, senator durbin. senator, i listened carefully to what you said. i do not know a single member of this body that condones what happened on january 6. and i want to be very clear. but the united states supreme court has been very clear. the united states supreme court has ruled that the united states department of justice overcharged many of the january 6 defendants using an enron-era obstruction of justice statute. i don't see anything wrong with the department of justice under new leadership finding out or trying to find out why that happened. i'm curious. i know you are a good lawyer, you should be curious, too. that's the only point i wanted to make. chair grassley: before you speak, i think i want to clarify what i have been trying to -- point i have been trying to make. so i want to run this markup the way chairman durbin did. he asked members to, quote, wait until each nominee is called. if they wish to make a comment on a specifi

chairman.e thank you join you in welcoming general gregory guillot the commander of north calm and admiral alvin holsey to today's posture hearing the commander of south calm. gentlemen, over the past month at both of your commands have order to conduct new missions in support of u.s. border security immigration enforcement. president trump has deployed over 2000 active-duty soldiers and marines to supplement my 500 guard members and reservists already deployed to the southern border. and has directed north calm to quote seal the southern border. additionally last week president trump or the defense department to expand the department of homeland security migrant operations center at naval station guantanamo bay, cuba to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants and begin transporting migrants by military aircraft to that facility. thus far i understand around 100 migrants have entranced ported to guantÁnamo. lee's half are being detained not at that migrant operations center but the detention center w

chairman. sen. crapo: without objection. thank you, ranking member wyden. mr. kennedy, in a few moments you will be given the opportunity to respond to these and other attacks and question the members of this committee have. i would say that with regard to the attack on medicaid that we just heard, that was a false attack, it has been proven false overnight. the medicaid portal is operating efficiently today and was never intended to be shut down. sen. wyden: would the gentleman yield since he has mentioned to me by name? there was significant time yesterday where there was bedlam across the country over the status of the medicaid portals. i hope it is being corrected but there were problems all through the day. sen. crapo: there certainly were attacks yesterday, but the problem has been clarified in the medicaid portal is fully operational as we speak. mr. kennedy, before i turn the time over to you to share your opening statement, i would like to give you a brief introduction. the son of sena