and senator. >> you. >> lawrence. >> you remember the chuck grassley before 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, chaos and cost for americans. and that's why we are standing up against thi

i really miss the pre-trump chuck grassley. there were times when i thought of chuck grassley as in senate terms, at least courageous in his consistency, and i personally disagreed with the policies he was so consistently supporting. mark greenblatt was the inspector. inspector general of the department of interior until this weekend. >> the key question. >> here is, is who does the president. >> appoint in the place. >> of the. >> igs that he's removed? >> we are. >> the we're. so-called watchdogs inside. >> the federal agency. so does he appoint. >> true watchdogs or. >> does he appoint lapdogs? if a member of the trump administration is accused of ethics. misconduct or. >> some sort of criminal violation. >> will the. >> ig be willing. >> to. >> investigate that in a fulsome and comprehensive manner? will they be willing to come to findings. negative findings. about that trump political appointee? that is the key question. >> and so this morning, thanks to donald trump, when pete hegseth reported to work at the pentagon toda

thank you, chairman grassley. i was truly honored to serve the people of the state of florida for eight years, but it was a team effort. i had great people around me, many of whom are in this room today. and we did a lot. we did lot to fight crime. and i've been reminiscing a lot since i was asked to take this nomination. opioids, as i talked about, were a top priority right when i took office. when i was running for office, i went through the entire state of florida. parents were walking up to me, handing me pictures of their children who were deceased from opioid abuse. ter i was elected, i took those pictures and i framed them in my office as a goal of stopping that fight, which i talked about in my opening statement. and if u.s. attorney general, i'll bring those pictures back out and they will be there to inspire me on the further drug abuse we're facing throughout this country. we also learned that something else was happening. pregnant women were having babies as a result of being opioid-dependent. we call

chair grassley: senator padilla. sen. padilla: i'll just follow-up senator cruz's final comment with suggesting we include targeting those children who are victims of inscrupulous employers as well. happy to follow up with articles and reports as you prepare for this position. ms. bondi: i'm sorry, employers? i didn't understand that. sen. padilla: many employers who are employing and exploiting dangerous conditions these children we are talking about. ms. bondi, we have less time this round and the first. ms. bondi: darn. sen. padilla: don't have yes or no questions. but a couple important issues to cover for the record. when you were florida attorney general, you defended restrictive abortion laws, including mandatory waiting periods and parental consent requirements. if confirmed as attorney general, would you advocate for similar restriction it's federal level? ms. bondi: will i follow the laf the united states of -- i will follow the law of the united states of america. sen. padilla: there is a difference between fed

grassley: i ask that the quorum call be lifted.he presiding officer: without the presiding officer: without >> asked the quorum call the -- >> without objection. >> also leader has just said, i come to the floor for the same purpose of talk about my vote in favor of mr. bessent, to be secretary of treasury. this cabinet position is one of the most important positions in any administration. the secretary is the tip of the spear for president's domestic economic agenda. very key player in international affairs with responsibilities covering international trade, global finance, and foreign sanctions, and that's just to name a few. given the current challenges we face as a nation, the next treasury secretary will have a big, full load on their plate. the u.s. is facing what former clinton treasury secretary larry summers recently called, quote, the biggest fiscal sustainability problem since the civil war, end of quote. at the same time, the expansionist ambitions of russia in europe and china, particularly china's pursuit of economic

coons: i've also led a bipartisan bill with senator wicker and grassley. it's called the driving for opportunity act. it recognizes that in many states there's a practice of suspending driver's licenses where someone is too poor to pay their court-related or public safety-related fines and fees, but where the driver's license isn't suspended because they're dangerously driving. it's just because they haven't paid their fines and fees and then without a driver's license, they lose their job, or they're not able to get a job. would you be willing to work with this bipartisan group of us on these two bills, driving for opportunity and the safer supervision act? ms. bondi: i would love to read both of them and i was unaware of that happening with driver's licenses. sen. coons: last two questions. clemency. as we discussed. often near the end of an administration there's a rush to consider pardons. would you be willing to work at a more institutionalized clemency process, where there aren't just lots of commutations near the end of a term, but where there's a r

senator grassley. >> i would like to say a few words. i already spoke to the panel and said i had a 3:00 meeting i had to go to, and i'm not here to introduce professor newman, a former iowan, but i want to say a few words about him. i understand that he grew up in iowa, hayfield, iowa he told me. he attended ohio state university, and the university of iowa, college of law. i appreciate hearing his views, professor newman and in particular, your concerns that there hasn't been enough of a focus on agriculture, food supply markets. i agree with you. for years, i have been pursuing our antitrust enforcement agencies to carefully scrutinize agriculture concentration, possibly anti-competitive and monopolistic practices in the agricultural industry, and senate judiciary committee also has convened hearings on meat supply competition, consolidation, and seed in the chemistry and grocery store mergers. ms. cooly, i know that in your written testimony, you also highlighted agriculture, and hope that the antitrust agencies will double down on p

senator grassley, welcome as always, sir.mayor and governors saying they're sanctuary cities and states and therefore neither ice nor anybody from the federal government did come in and each and take out anybody and deport them. doesn't apply because of sanctuary cities and incoming chair and chair of the judiciary, what do you say, senator grassley? >> san antonio tear cities are un--- sanctuary cities are unconstitutional and one of the 18 powers of congress is passing laws dealing with immigration. they'd be violating another federal statute. if those local people interfered with the enforcement of immigration law. so the trump administration is doing exactly the right thing. people that enter the country illegally in violation of the laws and can't come here without our permission. they have a right to go get them and particularly people that are on the terrorist watch list and people that have criminal records. larry: so federal -- essentially federal laws override these local laws; is that fair? >> yes, it is. it is. la

chair grassley: senator schmitt. sen. schmitt: we have heard a lot about the newfound concern my democratic colleagues have about independence in the ag's office. given over the last four years, it's ironic. ms. mccord you are talking about the importance of independence. is it concerning to you that eric holder, while he was attorney general described himself as obama's heat shield and wing man? ms. mccord: that's probably not the best description of the job of attorney general but i think the record speaks for itself. sen. schmitt: loretta lynch met with bill clinton just days before the fbi interviewed hillary clinton on the investigation relating to emails. does that meeting concern you as it relates to the appearance of independence? ms. mccord: my understanding is that was a chance encounter at an airport on the tarmac. it does not leave me concerned. sen. schmitt: i do not think that is what happened, but it's an interesting characterization of that. i will now switch to mr. cox. these are related. i think that the

grassley: i do.

durbin: thank you, senator grassley. i appreciate your commitment to the bipartisan practices preventing presidential nominees. that was in doubt several weeks ago. i spoke to senator grassley and he assured me he is committed as i am to maintaining these practices which we have established over the years. our process is rigorous and shows how seriously members of both sides of the aisle take our constitutional responsibility of advise and consent. ms. bondi, thank you for coming to my office last week to discuss your nomination. the importance of the attorney general to our system cannot be overstated. as the nation's chief law fourth an officer the attorney general oversees the department of justice which is responsible for protecting the civil rights of americans, economic freedom and opportunity, public safety safety and of course national security. in short, the attorney general has real impact on americans' everyday lives. any nominee committed first and foremost to the constitution and the american people. not any

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

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 everything that was accomplished by reelecting p

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

but grassley is not one that you typically hear about. it's usually more.> yeah. i think we're seeing the reverberations of other, you know, other politicians whose age became a major issue. you know, take, for example, dianne feinstein a few years ago, or take, for example, joe biden. obviously, you know, there are we're seeing kind of more and more issues where politicians ages are becoming, you know, are raising questions. i'm wondering if. >> in your conversations around this reporting, yes, you've heard the concerns from republicans, but how close are those republicans and those concerns to the white house or to trump himself? because that, to me, would be the real metric of it's not just a concern, but change could be coming. >> certainly, people who have trump's agenda in mind are raising these raising these questions. and there's concern that, you know, grassley could raise an issue for trump's agenda. did they look at. >> the confirmation hearings, for example, for pam bondi, and see anything that sparked those concerns? is there a seminal moment f

grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: everybody knows that except for native americans, this great nation of ours is a nation of immigrants. we're one of the most welcoming nations in the world, maybe the most welcoming to immigrants. because about a million people come here every year legally. my family has been blessed by two -- a daughter-in-law of 45 years from south korea, a granddaughter-in-law of about six or seven years from ethiopia. i've learned much from them, and i think america is great because of the people that come here. but we're also a nation based on the rule of law, and we have not seen that immigration law enforced over the last four years. so i'm going to be voting for governor noem because she's committed to enforcing our immigration laws. i think secretary mayorkas felt in his heart that we ought to give the american land of opportunity, the opportunity to anybody who wanted to come here. he said he was enforcing the laws, but we know that he wasn't enforcing the laws because you saw ever

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

grassley at least, is kind of raising a finger? >> oh, i think. >> a lot of senators are raising fingers. i won't say which finger, but they're raising fingers privately about some of the president's actions. i do think that, you know, the there was a debate during my time in congress whether inspector generals should be moved over to the general accounting office or some office like that, and be under the control of congress as opposed to the control of the executive branch. it's a very interesting debate. and i think this this president has triggered that debate to to start again, and we'll see how it how it's resolved. >> so, congressman jones, you know, he he says, you know, that they're being fired because they will not assist in implementing the president's agenda faithfully. again, not their job of of the career appointees there at all. and trump is speaking out tonight and doing something he often very successfully does. right. which is when he does something, saying that he is taking care of the fact that other people were

grassley: thank you. chair graham: if i were you, i would answer senator grassley's letter if he ever sent one. senator murray? sen. murray: thank you. i appreciated the opportunity to meet with you last week, but i do continue to have very serious concerns regarding your nomination. starting with your position and record. i do not believe what happened in the case of withholding security assistance to ukraine in 2018 while you were acting director was an accident or a misunderstanding. i fear it is actually a harbinger of what is to come these next four years. in fact, on his first day in office, we saw the president order, among other things, what appears to be an illegal deferral of inflation reduction act, bipartisan infrastructure law, and foreign assistance funds, as senator merkley referred to. your written response when pressed on this, that you will follow the advice of the incoming omb general counsel, someone who has called the impoundment control act a stupid law, and recently tweeted at you t

senator grassley. senator grassley: congratulations. i want to start out where you and i talked about something in my office and you remember that tongue-in-cheek comment i made to you that you were going to be asked by the chairman will you answer all of our letters and everybody that comes to the hill says yes they are going to and i said maybe you better say maybe. because most people don't keep that promise. so i just want to remind you if so i just want to remind you if i write you letter, on oversight responsibilities i would appreciate it if you would answer. now to my first question. my democratic colleagues -- you will put that up. my democratic colleagues believe the only solution to our unsustainable debt and deficit is higher taxes rates, and that ends up being on job creators and families alike. however, history proves that high tax rates fail to raise significant revenues. taxpayers, workers and investors are smarter than that. in other words, there are smarter than we in congress that thinks at one time a 93% marginal tax

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

senator grassley. miss bondi, if you're successful in your nomination, this democrat would like to give you three words of advice. answer grassley's letters. you'll never hear the end of it if you don't. at issue. i believe in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience. at issue is your ability to say no more than any other cabinet official. the attorney general has to be prepared to put the constitution first, and even tell the president of the united states, you're wrong. the political danger and personal costs of such a decision are well documented. you have only to ask former attorney general jeff sessions and bill barr, whom donald trump sacked for lack of loyalty. and so i have three basic questions i'd like to ask you. most americans believe that central to the peaceful transition of power in a democracy is the acceptance of the results of an election. to my knowledge, donald trump has never acknowledged the legal results of the 2020 election. are you prepared to say toda

quick's thank you chairman grassley went to take a moment to reflect on yesterday's session with ms. bondy. they seem to be a meeting of minds and criminal justice reform and the need to protect our children online there's are good things. there are still outstanding issues from yesterday's hearing that i am struggling with. let's are the very important issue. what the election in 2020? why are we still asking that question for goodness sakes, we have moved onto a new election. you think that would be over. the reason why that still relevant question because the heart of our democracy the peaceful transition from one president to a new president by the will of the people without resistance. without denial. this -left-curly-bracket hanging chad have any pro witnesses it does to me in every american. in the year 2000 bush versus gore a contest went on till december neuter's numerous court contest associated with it as to who actually won the election for they came a moment al gore stood up and said that's it, it is over. have gone to court, i can keep going to the court but is not the

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 decen

so i think grassley's statement is quite telling. he's leaving the door open to maybe be okay with some of this, but it is of great consequence, especially for those on the hill who often call for these reports by the inspector general. >> and these investigators typically span between administrations. they don't have a term limit. they're supposed to be apolitical. we'll see how that plays out. but just take a step back about how the first week has played out. i we read from all those actions that donald trump took that was just a taste of it. there was far more that he actually did. you wrote in the washington post about his flood the zone strategy. trump's first week flood the zone. repeat. you know, look, this time compared to 2017. yeah, there was a lot happening in 2017 when he first came in. but it is much more strategic this time in terms of putting out so much at once. >> yeah. >> it's definitely more organized. i mean, at this time, eight years ago, you remember the travel ban had just been enjoined and there were, you know

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

grassley: i do. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 4, which was submitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk although report the resolution. the clerk: announcing the appointment of a president pro tempore. the president pro tempore: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the president pro tempore: is there objection? without objection, it's ordered. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to otoconsideration of s. res. 5, which was submitted earlier today. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: s. res. 5, notifying the house of representatives of the election of a president pro tempore. the president pro tempore: is there objection to proceedin

chair grassley: senator klobuchar. sen. khroe by champion: thank you very much -- sen. klobuchar: thank you very much -- >> president biden: i can announce a cease-fire. a hostage deal has been reached between israel and hamas. more than 15 months of conflict that began with with hezbollah's brutal massacre on october 7, 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, israeli people, more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people of gaza fighting in gaza will stop and soon the hostages will be return home to their families. the elements of this deal were what i laid out in detail this past may. which was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the u.n. u.n.security council. the deal is structured in three phrases. phase one will last six weeks. it includes a full and complete cease-fire, withdrawal of israeli forces from all the populated areas of gaza, and, and the release of a number of hostages held by hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. i'm proud to say americans will be part of that hostage release in pha

that senator grassley, you mention him. said to me there may be a good reason they were fired we need to know that pardons for thpreventsfurther explanation fm president trump. regardless the 30 day detail that the law demands is not provided to congress. i talked to some other folks who are part of this caucus that you are part of for the inspector general's. they have concerns as well pr you confident and your gop college of senator grassley speaking out. you think others will too? this caucus is brand-new you have an inspectors general. >> a form this caucus because inspectors general do controversial work. they say and blow the whistle when there has been abuse or waste. they are against that wasteful spending. that is the reason why our bipartisan caucus i hope will and must provide stronger support. andisappointed in republican so far they've not spoken out. many of these inspectors general have been very critical of democrat administrations. i'm the ranking member on veterans affairs. the inspector general for the va

grassley: i ask permission to speak for three minutes in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: as the 119th congress kicks off, i look forward to continuing my work for iowans. as president pro tem of the senate, iowa is number one with my leadership. i look forward to working with my colleague senator joany ernst -- joni ernst to represent the people of iowa and bring their views to the policy making tables, we will work with our colleagues congresswoman henderson and congressman finstra across the capitol to represent the good people of iowa. i emphasize the iowa delegation putting iowa first. i do that at the same time we remember the voter mandate of the last election, to put america first. we will work with president trump to bring that goal to fruition. on another point, yesterday january 6, was christmas day for many christians of the orthodox faith. but during the soviet union, if you remember the history of the soviet union, christmas had to be celebrated in secret less the communist authorities would find out and

and congress is asking a lot of questions about this. >> including senator grassley. >> and you. >> were right to. >> mention him. >> and that's a. republican ally normally of a republican white house. >> but he he said specifically that that 30 day period obviously. >> was not given. and if. >> there was a. >> clear reason. >> for having done this, firings that hasn't been identified. >> yet by the white house. >> so it was clearly an effort by the president to get rid of folks who are charged with being independent and having an. independent job. and at least the message that they're sending with this right now is. >> that that's not. >> what they want. >> and it's a big question, open question of what kind of people they would then put in. >> absolutely. and they haven't. >> given any details about. >> who they. >> would put. >> in and when. somebody would be put in. >> but the. >> question of the legality. >> is certainly. >> going to be hanging. >> over that move. and the fact that there are questions coming, not just. >> from. >> democrats who. >> are. outraged by. >> this move, bu