i promise you that. but until then, we need to support whoever president trump wants on his team. senate republicansuld be thanking president trump for helping us take back the majority here on this floor and the senate. we have a country to save, no more playing games. i for one am playing for keeps, i encourage my colleagues to think the same way. everyng single one of president trump's cabinet nominees should be confirmed no question. we must save the united states from a total collapse at the hands of the globalist, socialist democrats who have run our country into the ground for the lastco four years. i have personally witnessed it right here on this floor. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> wednesday on c-span, the house returning at 10:00 a.m. eastern for general speeches before turning to legistive business at noon. meer will consider several foreign policy related measures including legislation to improve the process for obtaining and renewing a u.s.assport and resolution condemning the global rise of anti-semitism. on cpan2, the senate is back at 10:00 a.m. to consider more psident biden

i think this shifting to a republican senate majority helps control the guardrails. to keep people who want to change the rules in order to achieve something they think is worthwhile, is not successful. i think the filibuster is very secure. >> leader mcconnell, practically speaking, what is having a 52 or 53 seat majority being for getting trump sit then the -- trump's agenda through the senate compared to a 51 seat? do you explore other things and what might those things be? >> we hear optimistic reports of what may have happened in the house. obviously, if you were going to legitimately work around the filibuster, it would be through reconciliation. we would be more successful if we flip the house. the speaker put out a statement. >> in march, you blamed president-elect trump and his inner circle on the delay for ukraine aid is he the best person to deter our adversary? >> i am here at this moment to talk about the election. i will largely confine it to that. >> what do you expect your role to be next year when you are not in leadership? you talked about foreign po

it's too early to tell that. >> as i said, i think this is the crawl test for senators. i think there are some republican senators who are eager to crawl. i think there are others who are trying to keep their powder dry and stay out of trouble with trump for as long as they can, but when it's game day and this information about gates and all of his sexual misbehavior and his payments for things, in addition to his complete lack of qualification, i mean we're focusing on the sex part, but this is a guy who has no idea how to do that job bring to it a really foul political caste so, um, there are abundant reasons that are going to make it more and more difficult as time goes by, and we'll just have to see who's going to stand up part of the republican caucus and who's in the crawl. part of the republican caucus. >> senator whitehouse, i appreciate your time. thank you back now with the panel, um melissa, i mean, he's not he's not he's not willing to say whether or not he's really confident there's enough republican senators. >> yeah. i mean, listen, i think it's an open question. and i do think that there'

i can think of four republican senators who i think would potentially stand up to this. todd young, susan collins, bill cassidy. i don't think there is a single republican senator who actually thinks this is a qualified choice and somewhat of a moral character. the question is is the clinical will they are? if i could just tell you quickly my only running with matt gaetz was in the outer oval office when donald trump was president. he was holding a folder and i said what's in that folder so that i could see what he was about to get to the president. it was conspiracy theories about joe scarborough. he presented it to donald trump will then tweeted about it causing the rest of the family of this woman who died tragically and had no involvement obviously. that is the character and judgment of this revision -- individual. >> that is chilling at back i guess the guy who is going to be running the department of justice. >> the sunny lack of judgment and character. >> i worked with him on my bipartisan legislation in passing two laws recently. i think the biggest story is senat

republican senators think they represent? they are representing the voters in their states. i remember when 20 -- that's right, 20 senate republicans voted to confirm merrick garland for the top law enforcement spot four years ago for the biden administration. that's their prerogative. as attorney general, merrick garland turned the doj into a weapon -- a weapon against president trump donald trump, republicans, and law-abiding u.s. citizens. the perversion of law that merrick garland embraced at the doj makes third world about a -- banana republics blush. secretary of transportation pete buttigieg received 36 republican votes. his qualification for the job -- quote, his personal love for transportation. okay. apparently liking trains as a kid makes you qualified to be in the cabinet. secretary of state antony blinken, who is in large part responsible for the blatant lies pushed in a letter written by 51 former intelligence officials right before the 2024 election received 28 republican votes in the senate. secretary of education cardona received 14 republican votes. secretary

i think of course you want to expand the senate majority, but then what are you going to do with it once you have it? i think republicansto decide are we only trying to expand or are we going to enact the policies people elected president trump to be there for? >> chuck, the democrats have no vote in the senate majority leader race, and how do you think they should position themselves going forward in the senate? as long as there is a filibuster maybe the one place where they can have influence in the washington the next 18 months? >> i think distinguishing between the policies of these folks that are running and highlighting what all of these folks are running on. there are two johns, john thune and john cornyn, rick scott has always been seen as an outsider. everyone of them bring a different vision. for democrats it is a great time to distinguish. and rick scott who was literally the richest man in the senate, that does not say to me or voters common man, let's try to help this common guy in the senate. there are 66 senators who will not be up for re-election in two years who nobody can put pressure on because they d

i look forward to working with my republican colleagues here in the united states senate to build a strong and prosperous america and a bright new dawn for the american people. mr. present i yield the floor. both tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. here's a look at what is coming up. all we can book tv takes you live to the texas book festival in austin. coverage begins saturday continues on sunday at 12:15 p.m. eastern author discussions on abortion, gun violence, infrastructure and more. the association of the u.s. army authors form for members discussed the books on military leadership and adapting to the battlefield. and at 10:00 p.m. eastern on after words journalist has a book how that race to mine metals and hued and technology renewable energy is impacting geopolitical politics is wall street journal global metals and mining reporter steinberg. watch book tv every sunday on cspan2 under full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org. works friday morning house democratic leader hakeem jeffries told

what does that tell us about the support that republican senators -- >> i do know that donald trump hasr relationship with senator rick scott. to me, especially when the 13 members senators voted for -- it looks like -- i guess -- a lot of influence on this next generation of senators. again, i say, there's going to be a group of senators that are going to hold him accountable. to make sure he is supporting and pushing the agenda. katrina: holding to a level of surprise at the selected of matt gaetz as attorney general. >> members are holding their informal elections right now. congress understood that matt gaetz was going to be the nominee. this is a -- as a member of congress just said on your show -- he will be able to pass the senate. interesting choice. it's going to be very -- when he has to, pray nomination. katrina: is there a sense from what you are saying that perhaps some senators won't vote for him even though the confirmation process only requires simple majority? >> yes, that's -- i think that is probably one of the points of this. there's already some pushback from senato

>> i believe i will, i believe republican senators want a change, look. er mitch mcconnell they want change i talk to them every day, they want somebody that is going to bring people on the ground together i am a business guy what we had to do, so i never got a deal done if i didn't talk to other side say how do we work together i built companies lets build a team what we want to establish we have a lot of great things we can balance the budget pay down debt secure border grow our economy we can do all these things if we all work together then i look forward, to leading the republican senate, because we are getting a majority, and take the best idea from everybody all of us omega oo come together get something done i think people want a big change don't want another dike datership like mcconnell. maria: don't want a communist party running things from china, china demanding what individuals companies carry out so-called self inspections now double-check taxes for unpapered liability chinese communist party slapping sanctions on u.s. drone skydio, you woke

president trump and vice president-elect vance to lead our countries, along with republican majorities in the house and senate. i congratulate president trump and vice president-elect vance on their tremendous victory. it is difficult to overstate what president trump did from in election. republicans have improved our margins, in three out of every four counties in the united states and grew support with nearly every demographic group. president trump won more hispanic support than any republican president ever before, and younger voters played a crucial role in his victory. the republican coalition is broad and strong and growing. mr. president, the american people handed president trump and senate republicans a decisive victory, and now the real work begins, delivering on our agenda. that starts with ending the biden-harris border crisis and deporting illegal immigrants. also at the top of the list is strengthening our economic and fiscal future. the last four years of democratic inflation have been very difficult for working americans. republicans will be focused on doing everything we can to expand economic

i want to thank senator murray and reed for joining me. look, i want to start by congratulating senator thune on being chosen by his colleagues as the next republican leader. i look forward to working with him. now, senator thune and i have done lots of things together in a bipartisan way here in the senate. i'm very hopeful that will continue as you know, i strongly believe that bipartisanship is the best and often the only way to get things done around here in the senate. and of course, i want to first address the election. many across the country, of course, are disappointed, sad, even angry right now. now i understand those feelings. it never feels good to come up short. but when you do, you pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, you learn from it and that's exactly what we intend to do. this is going to be a period of learning for our caucus. as i said, we did many things right? we did things wrong and there are things we must do and we're going to look at all of it. as i told my caucus at lunch, we should regard this election, not, we should regard this election really as a challenge. the american people have presented us with a challenge.

will get to the republican senators but i want to say, 30,000 might feel brazen but i think it's small potatoes to the money around d.c. and as far as republican senators, i think that's a big question right now. we saw the tiny bit of spine when it came to matt gaetz will they do the same when they speak in public? i hope so. there's more positive signs but remains to be seen. >> sam, you have "the new york times" reporting mitch mcconnell is feeling liberated ready to stand up for his chamber's independence, do you buy that, sam? >> you know what, i am going to let myself get suckered in a little bit. i buy it a tiny bit. i think the gaetz thing was surprising. i actually thought the republican senate would bend over and say sure why not and also trump would push for it. if push came to shove. neither happened. and mcconnell, i think, you know, to a degree if you look at nominees he should have problems with each for different reasons for rfk jr. mcconnell believes in vaccines and rfk jr. is a critic and tulsi gabbard, you k

i saw it in the senate when i was working there. republican senators on the ethics committee voting against republican senators under investigation. you have seen it happen in the house of representatives on the ethics committee so i believe on december 5 there is a strong chance that at least one of these republicans on the ethics committee will vote to release that report. >> i think there is as well. i went to the floor the day after he announced he was going to name matt gates and spoke on the floor for five minutes which is what we are limited to about the need to release the port. it so happened that my guest, the chairman of the ethics committee was the speaker that day and i noticed that and in my remarks i guided them toward him and the need and importance for the respect of congress to release the report. i saw him the next day in the gym and talk to him about it and he was not exactly sure where they were going to be. he sounded a little bit like he was considering the idea of giving it to the senate so that i think there is a possi

i think this shifting to a republican senate majority helps control the guardrails to keep people who want to change the rules in order to achieve something they think is worthwhile is not successful. i think the filibuster is very secure. >> practically speaking, what is having a 52 or 53 seat majority mean forgetting trump's agenda through the senate compared to a 50 or 51 seat, and does this mean you expand the agenda beyond the trump tax cuts to explore other things and what might those things be? >> we hear optimistic reports of what may happen in the house and obviously if you are going to legitimately work around the filibuster it would be through reconciliation. i think we would be more successful if we flipped the house. the speaker put out a statement saying he's optimistic and i hope that's the case. >> in march you blinged former president trump and his inner circle on the delay in ukraine aid. are you confident he's the best person to deter our adversaries? >> i'm here this morning to talk about the election. i think i'm going to largely confine it to that. >> -- what you

republican senators know this. itor thune as well as all of my colleagues across the aisle are well aware. and if you look at these cabinet choices, they have one mission in mind, and that is to enact the agenda of donald j. trump that the american people voted for overwhelmingly of. maria: what are these democrat governors missing? you hear the governor of illinois, the governor of new york, the governor of new jersey if coming out saying we're not going to help president trump deport anybody. don't come for my people. are they unaware that those people actually voted for trump's agenda? >> listen, democrat politicians is have had a marie an we net view of america for quite some s overwhelming. and if they decided they're going to to oppose deportations that 57% of the american people want to see enacted, then they're going to have more political losses in the future. but that is because the democrat party has wanted open borders and mass illegal immigration for decades. they had it under joe biden and kamala harris

senate all together. i talk today a number of republicans about this today and some say they would not favor it. >> recess appointed. does that concern you? >> that's a whole other issue. i don't think we should be circumventing the senate's responsibilities. but i think it's premature to be talking about it. >> if someone's rejected. >> that's a totally different issue. i think the supreme court would even step in. >> you wouldn't be in favor. >> the supreme court's spoken as to the time period it would take. >> i believe in recess appointments so i was very clear and you know, i think both john cornyn and john thune committed recess appointments. >> reporter: in the last comment, rick scott, who ran for senate majority leader, he lost the race to john thune. he had run for senate majority leader as well and aligned himself more with trump in the days running up to the election that happened yesterday. but you heard him saying he believes it should be an advise and consent. into the investigation into matt gaetz including getting that information from the house ethics committee. that's what the democrats

republican senators. then you go down the list. pete hegseth, rfk junior, told together, these are all unacceptable picks. and iators will agree. >> i think you make a fair point, as well. we are talking about staffing the government, so we are back to governing. there was a lot of politics, a lot of names, we are back to governing. if you don't meet the basic requirements of governing, then you have to deal with that. about a less important job than attorney general. let's just go with babysitter. and you run a little background check, or you do some vetting, you find that the level of ethics or safety, the first candidate does not meet the requirements, then you disqualify them. i'm not aware of any serious person, i really don't care how you voted. whatever, red, blue, in between, who says on the second pick, we already disqualified one babysitter, so now we just have to take whoever walks in. it's actually, i'm pretty sure, the opposite. on matters of import, particularly safety, you do all the vetting every time. and if it takes longer, that's what you do the vetting. >> exactly. and the idea that they are

it doesn't align with the views for the republican senators who have the votes to confirm him. io a lot of the republican senators about him being nominated to the post. they made it clear they weren't ready to engage. >> what about matt gaetz? >> i don't know yet i will have to think about that. >> any concerns about this? >> we will see. >> do you think he's confirmable? >> what do you think of the attorney general? >> happy thanksgiving. >> several of the senate members who play a key role in deciding whether to advance the nomination. some members include senators john cornyn, there are concerns about the nomination. they feel the new senate majority leader the incoming senate majority leader, john thune indicating this would be and advised to consent process through the regular senate process and not saying if he believes that gaetz could be confirmed to the post. >> kate you just heard some of the republicans that they spoke to. they don't want to talk about it at this point when it comes to matt gaetz others though have been very open so what do you think happens here? you

and, you know, trump is directly calling these republican senators and lobbying them here. and it wonder you know, do you think that the senate republicans are going to to stand in the way and defy trump in one of his first moves that he's made since winning reelection i think we have to watch it play out because maggie's reporting your reporting, of course, that donald trump is calling on matt gaetz's behalf. >> that's right. now, that might look different a week from now, if we start to hear more and more about these allegations and it becomes harder for him to defend it. but i do think senate republicans are going to not make this donald trump's problem. i would say the most likely scenario if this report comes out or if more information comes out into the public, would be either the judiciary committee have their hearing and make a recommendation to president soon to be president trump, or even senator john thune say there is not an appetite. i don't have the votes. let this be my problem there's elegant ways for senate republicans to technically side with donald trump, while

and if i was a republican senator, i certainly would not want to be in that kind of position well, and it was notable what vice president elect vance posted today. >> he was obviously there during those meetings helped kind of, you know acting as a sherpa during them. he tweeted about republicans who were who were riding on trump's coattails, saying that trump's coattails turned a 4951 senate to a 5347 senate, and that he deserves a cabinet that is loyal to the agenda. he was elected to implement. how do you think that goes over with skeptical republican senators well, i mean, to an extent he has a point, which is, yeah actually, for the first time in donald trump's electoral history, he had coattails usually he ran behind people that ran in their districts or ran for the state. >> so he does have a point in that. but the difference is this. i mean, it's one thing if you're talking about i don't know, let's even take pete hegseth i don't think he's qualified to run dod, but, you know, saying, okay, well that's donald trump's preference. let's say without these assault allegations again

that there are 53 or 54 republican senators and you say there are a handful that care about american democracy. that's the number you characterized. a handful means five or under. >> i think there are many senate republicans who sort of thought about trump in the same way that a will the a lot of his voters did. he was talking this big game of overthrowing democracy on day one. using it to get his enemies, but he wouldn't do it. there is disbelief. but also parts of the united states congress. there is no way to suspend that belief structure any longer. donald trump is telling with you the choice of matt gaetz that he is going to weaponize the department of justice and fold it into the white house. maybe some minds will change now that they are seeing that reality in full view. >> thanks so much. gl to see you. a senate republican will join me next with reaction to the gaetz selection. plus, why critics flagged fox news co-host pete hegseth. it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevi

>> i think what you're seeing is republican senators making the distinction between unconventional and unqualified. they can vote for unconventional picks. most of the picks are going to be unconventional. what they don't want to do is support unqualified candidates. i guess i have a different view than the secretary. this first week, i would say republican senators got their backup and said we're not going to do this. there was a quiet effort to have matt gaetz removed. senator lindsey graham who has shown great deference in the past had a stern discussion with matt gaetz. laid out what the likely scenarios would be if he proceeded with the nomination. suggests there wouldn't have been votes. other senators back channeled with the incoming administration about that. i think also you heard eric schmitt today on your interview suggest that background checks would be important whether they're fbi background checks or others, would be important. third you've seen republican senators show skepticism, publicly, about this recess appointment process. thus far early on republican senators are

>> again, i respect the institution of the united states senate and i'm confident members of the republican caucus took their votes seriously, in the secret ballot effort and i congratulate senator thune. i think he will be a strong and good leader for the republican party in the senate but it is important to the institution of the senate to demonstrate that it is separate from the white house. it's not an arm of the white house, they have their own responsibilities and i say the same about the house of representatives, when congress meets they are an institution that has to participate, get closest to the people, the senate is the next closest to the people, the president represent all the people. the institutions being now led by republicans, it is important we polish these institutions as they do their job and i hope the president and the majority leader in the senate and the speaker of the house will recognize that they are there to do a job, not just important to the people in the united states but a reflection on what it means to be a democracy around the world. we are still the great

i might be wrong but my view is that there is a large enough bloc of republican senators who are very determined to make their voices heard when it comes to these appointments. and i think that we're going to hear from them. >> what do you think of the president's idea? well, just go on recess and i can do these appointments on my own. and you don't have to take a tough vote. >> well, i believe there's a reason we have this process to have the advice and consent of the senate. i think it actually your cabinet and of your administration. and i think that it's a very wise process that the framers devised. and i think that he would be wise to stick with it. >> there's a among republican senators on this issue take a look. >> i don't think we should be circumventing the the senate's responsibilities. >> the senate should be here to do its work. >> well, i believe in recess appointments. >> so i was very clear. and, you know john thune committed to recess appointments. >> lulu do you think the senate will give up one of its main constitutional provisions, one of its main sources of power t

representatives, the senate being so partisan that this is hopeless that no republican would ever vote against another republican but i've seen this and i've seen this in the senate when i was working there, the republican senators on the ethics committee voted against the republican senators under investigation. you've seen this happen with the house of representatives on the ethics committee so i believe on december 5 that there is a strong chance that at least one of these republicans on the ethics committee will vote to release this report. >> there is as well. i went to the floor the day after he announced he would name matt gaetz and i spoke on the floor for five minutes which is what we are limited to about the need to release the report and it so happened that the chairman of the ethics committee was the speaker pro tem that day and i noticed that and in my remarks i guided them toward him and the importance and the respect of congress to release this report and i saw him the next day and i talked to him about it. he wasn't sure where they would be and it sounded like he was considering the idea of giving this to the senate so i think that there's a possibility.

the two are inextricably linked and i think that senate republicans have to understand that as they gohrough this process. >> i wonder if donald trump finds at some point that he cannot get matt gaetz through and that still is a very big maybe at this point. i wonder if there are any other names that are floating around in the trump ecosphere right now, vaughn? is it a todd blanche? because todd blanche and matt gaetz are not the same. at least not, at least from the experience that we've so far had with todd blanche. >> and todd blanche and emil bove, let's be very clear, before they defended donald trump, they both did work as top prosecutors in the southern district of new york's district attorney's office. these men both have experience in the top attorney's office of the doj. and so both of these men, if they were to get confirmed by the senate for todd blanche, that would be in the number two role as deputy attorney general, he would all but be in a position, in short order, in a week's time, to serve in the role of acting attorney general. and acting attorney general has just as

i think republican senators view john thune, current majority whip as front runner but rick scott is getting a lot of backing from conservative media figures and grassroots conservatives as well. the question is will that translate into votes for rick scott, for majority leader and again secret ballot election. so there is no mechanism to really hold republican senators accountable for this. some are coming out and saying publicly who they will support. but it's only a handful so far. we are four days away from the election. >> trump is going to want his picks to pass muster and get senate majority and be able to be confirmed. he doesn't always like the traditional route. do you see that he will try to exert some leverage however so he can get what he wants? >> that is kind of the question. though as we have seen over the past few years, trump can be caprecious when it comes to congress. staffers and members of.com checking their phones to see what shows up on x, formerly twitter, truth social. they will have a lot of leverage over the incoming republican clash because so much of the

senate approval? in other words, use those recess appointments? >> well, i don't think that the -- senator john thune is a good man and he's an institutionalist. i don't think senate republicansre going to use this recess appointment process. if they do, it will be done very sparingly. and i don't think they would use it for candidates who are deemed unqualified. maybe for somebody who was qualified, but controversial, you might remember john bolton in the first trump administration. i think he became -- took his position because of a recess appointment. but i don't see that happening for a matt gaetz. i can't imagine that the matt gaetz nomination will last long. i think they'll have to withdraw it. and some of these other nominations, too, that are that controversial. and you know, if you're a senate democrat, why would you obstruct this process? i think you would want senate republicans to be on the record voting on some of these very controversial nominees, that would like to use this politically. >> i do want to ask you about something that "the new york times" is reporting now, that iranian officials say that elon musk met with iran's u.n. ambassador for more than an ho

i believe a republican senator has also made a request that the documents be provided, but i think wei think sooner or later, there is going to be a reckoning that comes with that. they've got other sources where they can get a lot of the documents, like that affirmative justice, for example, that did the investigation. he is going to have to answer questions about that israel's military continues to hit densley populated areas in southern beirut. israeli aircraft lauched several raids on the suburb of dahiyeh on thursday morning, following evacuation orders in nearby neighbourhoods. israel's military said it was targeting weapons facilities and military bases used by lebanese armed group hezbollah. it is the third day in a row that israel has attacked the lebanese capital. lebanon's health ministry says strikes killed 78 people across lebanon and wounded 122 others in the last 2a hours. the strikes come as his brother claimed a number missile attacks against israeli forces along the southern front on thursday. elsewhere, israel killed at least 15 people in air raids on two residentia

senate specifically, republicans in the u.s. senate who are willing to go out there and ask the hard questions about access, about influence peddling? >> yeah. i'll get to the republican senators but i just want to say, 30,000 might feel brazen but i think it is small potatoes. as far as the republican senators are concerned that is just the big question. we saw a tiny bit of spine when it came to matt gaetz. will they do the same when they have to speak in public? i would hope so. bit remains to be seen. >> sam, you have the new york times reporting that mitch mcconnell is feeling liberated. ready to stand up for his chamber's independence. do you buy that sam? >> you know what? i will let myself get suckered in a little bit. yeah, i kind of do buy it a tiny bit. the gaetz thing was surpriseing. i thought the republican senate would bend over and say sure why not and trump would push for it. neither happened. mcconnell i think to a degree, he should have a problem with each one for different reasons. for rfk jr. , mcconnell is a polio survivor. he believes in vaccines. for tulsi gabbard. mcconnell has been pro engagement with ukraine. obviously, he has problems with tulsi gabbard w

wrong, but i'll tell you there is a very -- how do i say this nicely -- there are flashing indications that this is a bridge too far for senate republicans. do i think they're lying or just talking tough today in november? perhaps. but, listen, senate republicans have a big majority. 53 seats is a lot. and it is not 60, but it is a decent amount. all that said, all you need to lose is four. and pick four from susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitch mcconnell, todd young, any number of senate republicans, i can't think of anymore off the top of my head now because i'm putting myself on the spot. >> thom tillis. >> how about thom tillis in a state that is going to be difficult for him in 2026, should he run again? all of these folks, and by the way, matt gaetz is not well liked. that's just a simple fact. markwayne mullin, aside from, you know, backpedaling softly on gaetz, he did say that gaetz is going to have to come up here and sell himself. gaetz is going to have to come up here and talk to members of congress about why he should be the attorney general, talk to members of the senate, he has to go through a confirmation hearing in which

so i think that his calculus about the republican senators folding to him has borne out successfully t it to continue to glue. matt gaetz might end up being the one person that gets thrown overboard and i don't think that's anywhere near certain that this point. >> speaker johnson says the release of this report opens pandora's box. there is precedent. we have seen ethics reports released after a lawmaker resigns. we saw it in 1987. we saw it in 1990. what is this really about? >> this is that whole question of what kind of congress do they want to be. they are a whole branch of government. they were allowed to do a bunch of things on their own without the president as tim was alluding to, we are not sure at this point what kind of senate and congress we are going to have when trump takes over in january and this is one of those situations where matt gaetz is not a very well liked member of congress, to say the least. there are a lot of folks that wanted to see him gone for a long time and a lot of folks wanted to see him out and really embarrassed on the way out, too. now with trump

i believe a republican senator has also made a request that the documents be provided, but i think wew that plays out. i think sooner or later, there is going to be a reckoning that comes with that. they've got other sources where they can get a lot of the documents, like that affirmative justice, for example, that did the investigation. he is going to have to answer questions about that investigation, whether they get our report or some other source for the information. he is going to have to address it sooner or later. will your committee be meeting tomorrow as planned to discuss whether this report should be handed to the senate or not? we do have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow. i cannot get into the particulars of it at this time because it is a confidential process. but i think we willjust have to wait and see what the resolution is for those things and hopefully down the road i will be able to address that and other members of the committee will as well. it sounds like you do think that parts of this report or parts of the investigation will somehow make it out into the public

senate hearing. and i don't know if senate republicans are i don't know what they're going to do with that. you know, asking some senate republicans about that. this week. if what if he doesn't and they their response is, well, he needs to. so it's it's just another clash between kind of the executive and the senate that that could you know, come down the road. >> it's interesting on the pam bondi pick. i mean, in a lot of ways, you know her viewpoint of the world is very similar to matt gaetz but she doesn't have the same baggage she doesn't have the same controversies that he does. and in some ways could come across looking more reasonable because of what happened to matt gaetz. yeah. that's right. i mean, this is kind of a question that i've had since gaetz which was what drew was you know, now that he did, he provide, in a way, almost a shield from scrutiny from some of these other picks in a way, by having him in the picture and having the bad headlines associated with him and all of that baggage, the investigations as well, were people so focused on matt gaetz to the point where some o

but then my question for you is, if it wasn't the senate republicans, what was it? >> look, i the senate republicans probably quietly again, you know, 30 people whose names we don't know and faces we've never seen passing along the word he doesn't is have the vote, i think mitch mcconnell probably was an anchor to a lot of that. yes, he will not be in the majority as the majority leader, but he will still be a fixture and a presence in that caucus. i think helping and guiding john thune a lib, knowing that the maga infection is now in the senate as well, and so i think that those safeguards still matter to someone like mitch mcconnell. so maybe there is a little bit of his play here and sort of giving sort of voice to a lot of folks in the senate who may have felt a certain way. again, didn't have the wherewithal to go up against trump. he does. he knows how to count his votes, and maybe very clear, hey, the votes aren't there. but again, that's all behind the scenes stuff. what i like to see is more of the stuff out front to send the message that there are bright lines with r

this is a report that senate republicans want to see. id senator kevin cramer, senator john cornyn, lindsey graham, the top republican, they said they need all the information, all of the facts when it comes to matt gaetz. there was one senator, for example, who raised the idea of a subpoena. that has never happened before. when senators subpoena house members. you see why this is so dire. i was told there were at least five to ten republicans who were considering voting against gaetz because they don't like the way he's handled himself in the house with the situation in ousting former speaker kevin mccarthy, one republican kevin cramer told me he destroyed the house. in addition to all of the questions about his investigations and the ongoing potential mishaps that gaetz has been involved in, that being said, jose, my sources told me that gaetz is pressing on and placed calls to republican senators trying to get a vibe check. j.d. vance's team doing that on the president-elect's behalf. a lot of consternation about this pick that overshad

i think ultimately this is a loyalty test for senate republicans. will they join senate democrats to do what they know is right and that is reject an unqualified nominee? or will they bow to what donald trump wants. unfortunately i think for all of us who promote and support the constitution and the rule of law i suspect senate republicans will give him what he wants. >> i will add that he also practiced law for less than two years. the question to you, will republican senators fall in line or with a reject him? could they torpedo this nomination given that outrage at him potentially leading the doj but then confirm other questionable pics? >> it certainly does provide a level of cover for some other people. like pete hegseth who surprised a lot of people as well. i would not want to be in his position to say the least. he's obviously not coming in with a strong hand. i'm not ready to say that republicans are going to reject him. i think you have to appreciate how many republicans see what donald trump just did and would be very concerned about cross

mean, i think the very point of many of these nominees is to pressure the republican senators to do something that they could not have imagined a week ago they would ever consider doing. i mean how many republican senators a week ago thought they could put tulsi gabbard with all of her relations with russia in charge of u.s. national intelligence or matt gaetz with all of the different issues he raises, including being under serious investigation himself as attorney general you know, whatever else you can say about donald trump, he has a great understanding of human weakness almost a feral instinct for human weakness, the kind of nicknames he gives, um, for example. and i think here he is testing republican senators. i mean it's not only about these appointees. it's not only about future appointees. it's really about everything that is on the table. you know, when when they said the sunday before the election his chief immigration adviser said he would he would keep families together during deportation by deporting u.s. citizen kids. that's the kind of thing we're going to hav