host: brendan buck our guest, longtime capitol hill worker, working with john boehner and paul ryan. taking your phone calls. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. they are also seeing your partner at seven letter. what is that? guest: the lobbying we provide the communication device to nonprofit programs. host: what kind of contact do you have with members there still? guest: i keep in touch, particularly on a staff level. i have a good sense of what folks are thinking and doing, a lot of friends who still work there. i wouldn't say that i miss it up there, but it is good for me to stay in touch and get my advice and hear what they are thinking. host: explain what it is. guest: anybody who works for john boehner is forever a part of a boehnerland, a community of staff that worked with them. john boehner really respected staff and understood the value they bring, and always made his -- us feel like home. whether you worked for him, whether he was chairman, or work for him at the end of the speakership, there is forever some paternity of

welcome back to the broadcast, michael steel, who is former press secretary for former house speaker john boehner and a guy who knows the hill very well. also with us, another returning guest, glen kirshner, former federal prosecutor and msnbc

some of them work unhappy with kevin mccarthy as well as speaker john boehner, and there were enough of them to make it difficult for mccarthy, even if the parties in the minority can get enough votes to demonstrate party unity and support party leadership. but over the last several years, for a number of reasons, those no longer feel strongly about opposing mccarthy, at least not publicly, so he has been able to cement support behind him. now, again, he is in the majority, so it is not likely for him to be elected speaker, even with the narrow majority the democrats have, but it serves some important, symbolic purposes, to show that your party is behind you completely, it gives you greater authority in your party, makes it easier to lead to might help fill morale, and it also cannot demonstrate, hey, we are a large majority that can work together as a bloc, so the democrats ave to stay united greta: mack green with us, professor at catholic university and co-author of the book "house leadership elections. we're talking to him and as we're doing this you're seeing on the floor a quor

he served as a top aide for former house speaker john boehner. thanks for getting up early with us this morning. you and i have worked together for many, many years, since you were working on the hill for john boehner. you've worked on campaigns that i have covered. we have tussled over language in stories or how things were covered, but i know that after more than a decade of covering the hill, i certainly never expected to see what we saw play out yesterday, and i'm, you know, grappling with the sadness of it, because i love covering the capitol, and i know that you have also devoted much of your life to trying to make our government better and to make it work. so, what did we see yesterday from your perspective? and republican leaders, honestly -- you know, we've taken them on "morning joe" and elsewhere, critics have taken them to task for not saying enough in the face of donald trump's actions. they always seem to think, well, the system will hold, i'll just keep my head down and get through this. and this is where it's led. what responsibil

you know, the dynamics at play right now, it reminds me so much of what former house speaker john boehnernd majority leader eric cantor had to go through a few years ago ago and it was that fracture between the base and the so-called establishment that ultimately led to eric kanter being primaried and losing his seat and john boehner packing up and leaving because he didn't want to deal with it anymore. in 2009 when we had an opposition president come into office, it was a different senate. you had people whether it was john kerry and ted kennedy on the left, you had the lions of the senate who cared more about the institution and the establishment than their own partisanship. well, that's not the case now. gone are those types of people and instead we have josh hawley, ted cruz, marco rubio, tommy tuberville. in the house we have qanon people that infiltrated the house of representatives. it is such a different dynamic at play, and i think what we're seeing right now is the opening stages of what's going to be an all-out civil war between the republican party wean those who still support

host: brendan buck our guest, longtime capitol hill worker, working with john boehner and paul ryan.g your phone calls. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. they are also seeing your partner at seven letter. what is that? guest: the lobbying we provide the communication device to nonprofit programs. host: what kind of contact do you have with members there still? guest: i keep in touch, particularly on a staff level. i have a good sense of what folks are thinking and doing, a lot of friends who still work there. i wouldn't say that i miss it up there, but it is good for me to stay in touch and get my advice and hear what they are thinking. host: explain what it is. guest: anybody who works for john boehner is forever a part of a boehnerland, a community of staff that worked with them. john boehner really respected staff and understood the value they bring, and always made his -- us feel like home. whether you worked for him, whether he was chairman, or work for him at the end of the speakership, there is forever some paternity of forme

it isn't about can she go get a drink with john boehner, can she go schmooze with mitch mcconnell. she's not about a politician like chuck schumer, the democratic leader in the senate, is more about that sort of schmoozing relationship and the affection between human beings, at a think that's not the way our politics works. she's much more about counting votes and doing the deal. >> what is your sense of what she cares about right now in the sort of ongoing stimulus negotiations? it strikes me that democrats are talking all the time about vote by mail, about elections, protections, to sort of making sure that whatever happens in november is safe, on the level and so forth. and yet you don't see these things, you don't see the leverage nancy pelosi now has ever come out of those. what is your sense of how those next round of negotiations might go especially given how important this issue seemed to be with democrats? >> it's been interesting to watch. she always is sort of on the tight rope i guess you could say but it is a a high wire act for her where you have the left saying she's

describe who we are or what we might be once you get to governing dealing with mitch mcconnell and john boehnernd ben nelson sometimes progresses in particular overestimate the degree to which high rhetoric will actually move votes. >> so what i wanted to ask and go from there you said you are writing this book explicitly for younger people so what is your diagnostic for the unfinished business they have to take up as they move alongside us and as they complete us? >> i am so excited to see this generation coming up if they would get out of the way that is true culturally in terms of politics i think their instincts that it is second nature for them to believe that all people have truth and dignity and it second nature for them to not with gender identity or who they pray to. they are sophisticated and smart taking in culture not just all across the country but all around the world and they are highly idealistic. the question for them will be how do we build institutions that will work in the modern era to reflect those impulses? so the big work of the next generation is to channel the natural

tom: is she as fragile as john boehner? not a question of fragility.ongmore a question of how does the speakership tenor frequently last. this is someone who has beat the political odds and reclaimed the gavel, which is historic in and of itself. that perspective she is a bit of a political anomaly. , the question of how many years her speakership the last and which incoming generation, not even necessarily from an age perspective, but from a factions perspective is being now openly discussed. take if the democrats do the senate, what are the likelihoods that you see the chances of an infrastructure bill getting past? next round of stimulus, if it was juxtaposed with a national security element pertaining to 5g technology as well as talking about the stimulus checks, i think they could be able, the democrats could be able to find a sympathetic ear and some of the more moderate members of the republican party, like senator susan collins and those type of lawmakers. senator josh hawley raised the prospects of being able to checkt a $2000 stimulus and he

brendan buc is a former top aid to john boehner. and anna in a vor row is here. brendan, you first, the gop you guys lost the senate and lost the white house. and yet a lot of republicans are sticking with trumpism even after the pro trump mob stormed the capitol. how does that make any sense? >> well, it makes sense because each one of these members is only concerned about their primary. the republican primary. and there is such a market for what donald trump is selling that it's really the only box you have to check. look, usually after an election there's -- that you lose -- like we did. the white house and the senate after losing the house, there's a period of self-reflection, some grappling with what happened. that is just not happening, because there is no other side of the party right now. and you've got mitt romney. you have maybe a ben sass, but nobody is really arguing the other side of the case that what dump stands for is bad or wrong or an electoral disaster. no one is willing to say that because it's in their own political self-interest to keep doin

he was going to suffer the same fate as the previous speaker of the house, john boehner, and so yes,talk to, to change the conversation, not from what republicans are going to do in the party now but what everyone else is going to do and you saw a germ of some of this emerging approach, i think, after the insurrection when corporate america said, you know what? those 47 house lawmakers who voted to overturn a democratic election, we're not going to give you money anymore. so, what will happen in this new post-trump era where trump is still throwing grenades from the sidelines and members like mccarthy are feeling that they need to go and bow before him. how is corporate america going to respond? because nicole, you were in this town for a long time. i've been in this town for a long time. we know how this operates. we know how those tax cuts got through. it is the thing that corporate america wants, and the money that comes from the donors and when the donors start speaking, that's when things start moving and that's when things start changing. secondly, how are democrats going to re

john boehner was a good friend of mine. they had other things on their mind that night beside sandy. my concern was, this thing will get buried in less we keep it alive. getting the money for the families was pretty good. and obviously, getting funding to fight ms-13. all in all, it has been a good run. i was very involved in the irish peace process. for anyone who is catholic or christian, that was supposed to be the holy thursday agreements. it became the good friday agreement. that was like an 800-year struggle. 300 years depending on how you want to -- being on the phone that night with my -- that night in my apartment in washington, with the white house, belfast, all different parties. i went to sleep around 2:30 and definite. then i got a call from the white house about 6:00. first i was annoyed they woke me up, but it was good news the agreement had been signed. host: as an amateur pugilist, have you used those skills in congress? rep. king: it gives you a certain bit of confidence. i know what to do. i'm like a week

we were suddenly involved in what was better solved by others they said i want to hear what john boehnerhas to say. you want to get some kind of idea of what he would ask bush and the democrats for that he could deliver and that's why he sort of acted that way in that meeting but it was a mistake we should have seen coming. it was a loss. when you are struggling to get onto the yaron to the yard liney you are knocked back or very late in the race to the 1 yard line. we've heard it realistically that it was very unlikely. >> how long did it take to recover wax. he is a man with enthusiasm. he threw himself into anything he could find and he had expressed particular interest before and he would get involved to stay busy. i remember on election night he was very stoic. if there was a speech that would stand the test of time for graciousness and spirit of patriotism and love of country he turned to the secret service detail and said you've been great it's been wonderful to get to know you. thank you very much. >> and then i don't ever want to see you again. the next morning he responded they

, what we might be but once you get to governing and then i'm dealing with mitch mcconnell and john boehnernett nelson and robert berg and sometimes progresses in particular overestimate the degree to which high rhetoric is going to actually move votes because the country -- >> what i wanted to ask about and where i wanted to go from there is young people, you said you are writing this book explicitly to younger people so what is your diagnostic for the unfinished business that they have to take up as they move along side and as they come to lead us. >> i am so excited to see this generation coming up if us old folks will get out of the way ass that is true culturally and in terms of our politics and i think their instincts are really good and they are second nature for them to believe that all people have intrinsic worth and dignity and it is second nature for them cannot discover nate against people because they are differences and raise or gender identity or who they pray to and they are sophisticated and smart and taking in culture from not just all across the country but all around the

lot of ways what's going on in the republican party reminds me much more of what former speaker john boehner and eric cantor dealt with when the tea party came in. didn't know how to deal with the base, didn't know how to deal with independent actors doing whatever they wanted and ended up losing their seats or walking "way from the game altogether. i see what's going on in the senate particularly, people like josh hawley or tom cotton. we have rand paul and ted cruz, marco rubio. i don't see a path for mitch mcconnell to keep control of his caucus going forward. he'll have the same challenges with all of these people jockeying to become the heir apparent to become nominee in 2024. everyone looking out for their own political interests and this is such a different time than we had in 2009. there is no chris dodd or ted kennedy, john mccain, john kerry. those who cared about the senate. those people are gone. left behind, began with the tea party. now morphed into a trumpism we're in right now. there's no controlling it. it's a runaway train, and they're only going to be happy if they burn th

animal who is desperate to become speaker of the house and wounded from not becoming speaker when john boehnernitially, he suffered the blowback as cheney and mcconnell did. as a test of leadership, cheney and mcconnell stuck to their position. kevin mccarthy is backpedaling. he wants to be speaker. but it's also an indication of this previous topic, alex, which is donald trump still controls the party. this is a marriage of necessity. kevin mccarthy is a perfect reflection of the fact that this party remains shaped in donald trump's image. cheney and mcconnell are the last gasps of the old republican party. >> a new poll shows that 57% of americans, they're confident in joe biden's ability to unify the country. do you share the same optimism? >> absolutely. and that's why it was very clear early on, it was clear that joe biden was probably the only person that could beat trump and i think that sentiment is seen now in the idea that 57% of voters think he's the one who can bring us back. but we were dragged down during the trump years and a significant part of joe biden's task is just getting

that was newt gingrich and john boehner. they had larger majorities and faced more defections. the clerk of the house: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the honorable nancy pelosiate o -- ornia has received 216 the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california has received 209. the honorable tammy duckworth of the state of illinois has received one vote. the honorable that keem jeffries of the state of new york has received one vote. therefore, the honorable nancy pelosi of the state of california having received a majority of the votes cast is dual elected speaker of the house of representatives for the 117th congress. the clerk of the house: the clerk follows the following committee to escort the speaker-elect to the chair. the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, the gentleman from california, mr. mccarthy, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise, the gentlewoman from massachusetts, ms. clark, the gentlewoman from wyoming, ms. cheney, the gentleman from new york, mr. jeffies, the gentleman from minn

john boehner is supporting this. this is the real fight within the republican party now. and you know this, don, most americans don't really care about the heart and soul of the political party. but this is not just about a political party. it's about the heart and soul of the country. and that's why these fights are so important right now. >> doug, thank you. abby, congratulations. abby has a new show. well, she is the new host of our show inside politics on sunday morning. make sure you tune in. abby, did a great job as usual and i will be watching again, this sunday. >> getting up early for me? >> getting up early. and -- and dvr. thank you. good to see both of you. be safe and warm. it's cold up here in the northeast. thank you. >>> outrageous conspiracy theories from marjorie taylor green. reopening tragic wounds, especially over the parkland shooting. the mother of a teacher and the coach who -- who was killed trying to save his students joins me with her message to green, next. carvana's had a lot. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you

buck, the chief communications adviser from former speaker paul ryan, the press secretary for john boehnert saying are you old. i am saying you have been around this building for a long time. what are you hearing from folks on the senate side about mcconnell's role here and what that whip count may look like at this point? >> yeah. that's the question everybody is asking. what is mitch mcconnell up to? he has clearly signaled that he is opened to impeachment. which is a remarkable place for him to be. i think what he's doing right now and the purpose of sort of floating this is to encourage his members to actually think about this. and giving them the permission to take a yes position on it. i think what he's probably doing behind the scenes right now is feeling out where his senators are. and what he is going to do i expect is make his position based on the feedback. i think there are two options, you get up to 67, 68 votes and really go for it or you kind of retreat and don't really make the effort and vote no i think the most likely vote ranges that you are looking at are somewhere betw

joining me now, brendan buck, former adviser to former republican house speakers paul ryan and john boehnernna edwards. brendan buck, karl rove said yesterday that the republican party is engaged in a civil war. do you concur? >> yeah, it's obvious that we're falling apart in front of our eyes. what i'm worried about is the other side of the civil war, the side against donald trump, is still vanishingly small. and i'm hoping that what happened yesterday is going to change that and that you're going to start finally seeing a few more republicans who realize that trumpism has been a cancer on the republican party. what we saw yesterday was the natural evolution of where this has been going. you had obviously a president who has been lying to people for months, for years, but you also had republican senators who were engaging it, who were perpetuating that lie, and this is what happened. and i'm hoping that what happened yesterday will open people's eyes and tell them that we can't keep doing this. look, we had a complicated history with the president, when i was working for speaker ryan. it's

>> it was not the kind of thing you'd hear a speaker john boehner or senate leader mitch mcconnell voicedidn't push back vociferously against it. >> how do you think it comes to be that this kind of misinformation gets spread around and prevails? >> i have no idea but i take the president at his word. >> they won't endorse it but they won't repudiate. they won't say it's wrong. they'll say something like, i take him at his word. >> the state of hawaii has said that he was born there. that's good enough for me. the president says he's a christian. i accept him at his word. >> obama would say to me, not so much surprised as in kind of dark humor, like they can't even condemn the birther movement? >> it really is not our job to tell the american people what to believe. >> they were okay with this. right? the energy that this was generating. the energy in their base was more valuable to them than the idea that it's wrong to say that the first black president was born in africa. >> if i were advising then-president obama, i would have said to him, hell, no, don't show them nothing. you go out

when john boehner resigned and kevin wanted to be speaker, i wouldn't give him my vote. the remainder of my term, he wouldn't look me in the eye. he wouldn't speak to me. he is a raw political animal who is suffering the blowback that liz cheney is suffering, that mitch mcconnell is suffering, by tiptoeing to the line of suggesting that donald trump, somehow, has culpability in the events of january 6th. and where cheney and mcconnell have at least owned that statement and doubled down on it and suggested there's a fight for the heart and soul of the party, kevin mccarthy, the raw political animal, felt the heat and tried to get out of the kitchen. but by turning it on the rest of the american people, that's the republican leader of the house blaming the american people for an insurrection when it lies with the heart of one movement, and it is trumpism. >> we'll leave it there. former congressman david jolly and bernard whitman. gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. >> is that game of twister still around? >> it is still around somewhere. political twister, i can'

. >> brandon buck, former senior adviser to house speaker john boehner, former maryland congresswom congresswoman donna edwards. stacey abrams was on last night saying she thinks they have done this, that they're highly motivated. we're seeing from what blayne is reporting from part of atlanta, a drop-off, not as many day-off voters. what do you think in terms of getting enough voters out today to overcome the traditional day-of republican vote? >> happy new year to you, andrea. i must say that i -- >> happy new year. >> absolutely. this election music or steve kornacki here at the beginning of january but here we are and all eyes are focused on my home state. what's interesting in that report from blayne other than the soundtrack that accompanied it, which i appreciate being a georgia native, she's in atlanta where we know a lot of black voters voted early in this runoff election and voted mail-in in this election because of concerns around coronavirus and because of concerns around election integrity, wanting to make sure they weighed in in these very conventional runoffs and that they weren't

in response to the announcement a former top aide to speakers john boehner and paul ryan tweeted, congress a sensible republican anymore. ohio republican senator rob portman joins me now. thank you so much for joining me. i know you heard my interview with brian dees, the president's top economic adviser. i talked to him about the letter that you and nine other republicans send this morning. what do you think about that and what is your reaction to what he said? >> first, thank you for the interview. it is the first time i've heard the administration say they actually want to make good on the promises made in the inaugural address with regard to covid-19 so you made progress. thank you. i mean, seriously. it is extraordinary to me that you have a great speech which i said at the time i said at the inaugural talking about the need to heal and work together as a country, republican and democrat alike, and a pledge to do more outreach to republicans. and then the next day landing on our desks a $1.9 trillion covid-19 package when only a month ago we passed a $900 billion covid-19 package that

adviser for jeb bush's presidential campaign in 2016, and former press secretary for house speaker john boehner. good to have the three of you with us. let me start with you juanita. what do you think is the democrats' best strategy going forward right now? >> i think schumer already laid it out. do it all and do it all quickly. the american public went into the 2020 election with an explicit mandate. we need immediate relief and help in this pandemic. trump needs to be held accountable. there is, not doing it is not an option at this phase. i think an old colleague of mine would always say there is a lot to be done and undone. that is a tone and tenor we're seeing from this senate under schumer's leadership as well as under biden's leadership. the senate absolutely has to do it all and do it quickly. >> before i come to you, michael, juanita, let me get your reaction to this cut from senator mitt romney, republican from utah. here is part of what he said on "fox news sunday" with regard to president biden's call for unity. watch. >> do you see an inherent conflict between calling for unity and

minority leader since 2019, and viewers will an know he served as the number two former speaker john boehner, former speaker 2014 to 2019.m on the floor right now they just started group 3 of the 72 law makers that will go to the floor to say that they are here. they are present here in washington and ready to work. vote, and start the 117th congress. quorum call they will move to the speaker vote. speeches, there will be designations for speaker f the house, both on the democratic side and on the republican side, and then they will move to the vote. gain, that will be a lengthy process because they will do this in groups of 72. matt, for those just joining us, explain again, when they go to are they peaker, how voting? speaker way that the vote operates is different than in the house of representatives. they are done by individual is called ach member on the roster of lawmakers and asked who they would vote for speaker. and they say the name. pelosi, mccarthy, or another name altogether or choose not to present.ote normally e itself -- it takes 45 minutes or so. 45 minutes to an hour and it

bill and even got the no child left behind education, where you had team like ted kennedy and john boehnerer. but the shoe is on the foot differently. i had dick cheney to call on and i remember once or twice we did think, well, this is going to be a close vote we got him to come into the vice-president's office right off the floor of the senate and had him available in case we needed him, but that was only a couple of times in the first six months. so, it can work, but now, you know, schumer is going to have the vice-president as backup, but unless they come to some agreement with about how they're going to make that work, we got a lot through reconciliation, which is a way to get things down without a being a super majority. that's another thing, the senate still have a filibuster and most bills are going to require 60 votes. neil: they can change those rules, right? >> they can, but-- and they've been doing that in recent years. it's a slippery slope and i think it's a mistake. i think even what they have done with nominees has been a mistake. it makes it easier to ram people through an

i worked for a guy whose first initiative involved two republicans, john boehner of the house of representative, democrat from california working together on education reform. where will be the similar opening initiative of joe biden? we don't know yet. i agree with katie, 15 executive orders this afternoon are not going to be moments of unity. they are going to be moments of, in essence, fulfillment for, in most instances, the left roff his party. >> turning the page, according to the biden administration, if you look live there, lady gaga speaking to former first lady michelle obama. you saw the former president there, of course, now the former vice president, mike pence, representing the trump administration, with his wife karen. we should point out this afternoon presidents biden, obama, bush and clinton will participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier, arlington national cemetery later on this afternoon once they stop the selfies on the front of the capitol. dana, your thoughts on this day, what karl just said and the challenges ahead. >> we just got the firs

the party of john boehner and paul ryan would have sidelined these members of congress, but the leadershipnd scalise has embraced this element, no longer an element, no longer a fringe of the republican party. and i think that for people who are calling for unity and bipartisanship, frankly, that's really hard to get to when that threat is from within. when you're looking over your shoulder at members of congress who want to bring guns on to the floor of the house. members of congress who are subscribing to and embracing people who are openly threatening the life of members of congress. and so, i don't know where we go from here, but it certainly is not moving on as though somehow this is just an afterthought and that we can move from it. this is a danger, and it continues to be a threat to the republic. >> and again, i was saying, john heilemann, that is a bulletin released to all law enforcement earlier this week, that there is, until the end of april, a persistent threat of domestic extremism, domestic terrorism carried out in the ideology and around this belief that the election was fr

been the battlefield for very different views, but i wonder what it's like, and i'm thinking of john boehner and what he ultimately pursued which was a strategy of appeasement. he sought to appease the tea party caucus in letting them have their way with the benghazi. do you think tooth paste can be put back in the tube or is it now a forum for qanon and whack jobs? >> i think mccarthy made a statement and voted not to sustain the votes of the electoral college in pennsylvania and in arizona. astounding, when he knew as has been reported, knew joe biden won this election and the fact they kept sending the message to these rabid trump supporters that they were having this election stolen from them and confirming that, joined the case with about 127 other republicans or maybe 37, but over 100 republicans. he joined the case to set aside the votes of six states. feeding that lie to these almost cult-like followers of donald trump clearly inflamed them as cheney said and clearly led them to believe that they had to defend democracy and defend the honesty of their elections. they were acting on a

welcome back to the broadcast, michael steel, who is former press secretary for former house speaker john boehner and a guy who knows the hill very well. also with us, another returning guest, glen kirshner, former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst and counselor, let me begin with you. tell the good folks watching why it is that you are the guy to talk to when we are discussing what could be a huge investigation into not only what happened in the district today, but how it was allowed to happen. what was your prior role there? >> so, brian, i was a federal prosecutor for 30 years, almost 25 of those years i was a prosecutor in the washington, d.c. u.s. attorney's office. so we would routinely see between 75 and 125 lockups every day. now that i'm retired from the department of justice, i don't mind saying that one of my least favorite duties was reporting to the basement of the courthouse at 7:00 a.m. to begin to go through that lockup list and what it entailed was interviewing every single officer or agent who made an arrest the day before and trying to decide whether we had enough evid

as you mentioned, she and i worked with john boehner, debbie seven, in both the obama and bush administration in a bipartisan way to rescue the auto industry. so important, not only for michigan, but for the entire nation as well. we might not always agree on how we are going to choose this, but i know that our previous experience in partnership will allow us to have an open line of communication so that we can work together to solve these very important issues. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. thank you >> thank you, congressman. with that, if you would stand, please. all nominees we require be sworn in in connection with testimony. do you swear the testimony you are about to give to the senate committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> i do. >> thank you, you may be seated. i'm going to ask three questions addressed to each nominee before this committee. will you be available to appear before this committee and other congressional committees to represent department oppositions and issues of concern for the congress? >> i will. >> are you awar

we had as a guest on friday someone who served under speaker john boehner.ere is what he said. >> i think one of the reasons donald trump was able to take hold of the republican party is because so many republicans do not like the republican party. and i think there are a lot of reasons for that. there were people who did not like the military venture in iraq and wanted a more inward focusing party. a party that did not care so much about wall street and cared about working people. immigration was a really big flashpoint in a way that the republican party sort of ignored the populace views. i will admit having ignored that wing of the party for so long it got really energized and donald trump recognize that, took advantage of it, and was able to release wally the party whole. what you are seeing now, and across the country, is the new wave of republicans are trump republicans. he is probably going to have an influence on the party for a really long time and anybody who thinks just because he is out of office means he is off the stage or gone is kidding thems

we had a guest friday who served under john boehner and paul ryan. he talked about the influence of president trump on the republican party. here is what he said. [video clip] >> i think one of the reasons donald trump was able to take hold of the republican party is because so many republicans do not like the republican party. and i think there are a lot of reasons for that. there were people who did not like the military adventurism in iraq and wanted a party that did not care so much about wall street and cared about working people. immigration was obviously a really big flashpoint in a way that the republican party sort ignored -- of ignored the populist views of the voters. i will admit, having ignored that wing of the party for so long, it got really energized. donald trump recognized that, took advantage of it, and was able to release the party. what you are seeing now, and across the country, is the new wave of republicans are trump republicans. he is probably going to have an influence on the party for a really long time. anybody who thinks

john boehner former speaker of the house put out a tweet.y of lincoln and reagan is taking a nap. the gop must awaken. the invasion of the mob is a disgrace to all who sacrificed to build our republic. reaction continues to pour in throughout the night into the morning from many of these -- from many of the former leaders from our capitol. >> i think it will be important for republicans one, of course, you have to come together at some point or the party doesn't exist, right? so over the generations you've seen the republican party absorb different types of people into a coalition. for example, reagan democrats, a lot of catholics came on board. during the reagan years. the perot voters got absorbed into the party as well. is there a place for people who might have been traditional republicans the establishment as well as these new voters that president trump brought along? can they come together? it's going to be very important to try to separate those who were bad actors yesterday from the 73.9 million people who voted for president trump.

why did john boehner leave? why does kevin mccarthy think he has the worst job in american politics? it's hard when all the rank and file members believe some of this stuff. >> jim, let me stop you there for one second. just for one second. you say the base. there is -- i still believe, a republican base that is somewhat conservative. yes, they are radical. there are some of those people out there. this congresswoman's base is qanon. now, are you saying that qanon base has spread -- has become so widespread that that now is the republican base? >> i'm saying a big chunk of the base might not believe qanon but they believe a lot of these conspiracy theories. there are more of those people than there are dick cheney, liz cheney republicans. again, go to wyoming. look at the coverage some wyoming. it is almost impossible that reporters are going there to even defend liz cheney. a lot you could probably find a lot of people that would defend the congresswoman. trump fomented a lot of this. to be honest, they don't k

to do all we can to prevent cyber attacks on the grid and she and i worked with john dingell, john boehner, debby stabenow and both the obama and bush administrations to rescue the auto industry. it is so important not only for michigan but the entire nation. we might not always agree on how we will achieve goals but i know and i'm confident that our previous experience and partnership will allow us to have an open minded communication so we can work together to solve these very important issues. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. thank you for letting me be present for this very important confirmation. >> thank you, congressman. with that, governor granholm, if you will stands. we have applied to all nominees require they be sworn in in connection with their testimony. please raise your right hand. do you swear the testimony you are going to give to the senate tkphraoe on energy and natural resources shall be the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> i do. >> before you begin the statement i want to address three questions. my first is will you be ava

compare that to maybe paul ryan's temperament and john boehner.ere is nancy pelosi on the complaint from people in her own party that she is 80-plus. clyburn is 80 plus. steny hoyer is older than all of them where is the next generation of democratic leaders. listen to this. >> why does aoc complain that you have not been grooming younger people for leadership. >> i don't know. you'll have to ask her. because we are. >> that was kind of sharp, kind of dismissing her. >> i'm not dismissing her. i respect her. i think she is very effective as are -- many other members in our caucus that the press doesn't pay attention to. but they are there and they are building support for what comes next. steve: um-huh. well, that flies in the face of some of the things that, you know, are actually happening in the democratic party. you have got all these liberals and progressives and they're young people and looking at nancy pelosi and just see the establishment and they want something new. at least aoc did when she was on that podcast a couple weeks ago. remembe

this reminds me of the conflict that drove john boehner and eric cantor out of congress when they hadouldn't control. when they let the base overrun everything, let the populism run everything and let breitbart and fox news being the center of the party they couldn't control it. the fact that mitch mcconnell had the conference call trying to talk to hawley about what he was doing and hawley wasn't even on the call. didn't care about mcconnell enough to show up to talk to him about it, i think that tells you right now that mcconnell is in a very different situation than he's ever been before. 2009 we had people like olympia snow or chris dodd or john mccain, john kerry, it was a different united states senate, people who cared about the institution and cared about the democracy more than partisanship and those type of figures are gone now and they have been replaced by hawley and cruz and marco rubio. people that we know are spineless. we know don't have any true conservative values. they don't have any policy agenda or anything driving them other than the pursuit of power. for all of

he served as majority leader under speakers paul ryan and john boehner.t is who republicans will put out. kevin mccarthy tweeting at nancy pelosi earlier today, about the size of the freshman class coming in after republicans did so well in the 2020 election. we showed you this tweet earlier saying hey, nancy pelosi, our freshman class is bigger than yours. that tweet getting some response from a few minutes ago from one of nancy pelosi's fellow congressman eric swalwell, saying speaker pelosi's gavel is bigger than yours. talking about how much new folks are making in these jobs on capitol hill. speaker of the house makes $223,500 a year with the top salary member of congress, and the majority minority leader in each of the house and senate 193,000 $400 a year along with the senate president pro tem also making that amount, $193,400 a year. when it comes to the rank and file senators and representatives, they make $174,000 a year. if you want to see how that changes over time, dating back members of congress originally made six dollars a day, bringing yo

john boehner, political columnist with patriot news from harrisburg, pennsylvania and ink show host matthewcneil minneapolis, st. paul, minnesota. steve gruber from the steve gruber show. watch c-span's washington journal with, friday morning. be sure to join the discussion calls, textone messages, facebook messages and tweets. day,ming up on new year's the national constitution center hosts a debate on whether the u.s. should ratify the equal rights amendment guaranteeing protections for all americans, regardless of sex. on c-span3, american history tv. we visit the american art museum for a tour. >> as the year comes to a close, congress continues in session, debating whether to add more dollars to covid relief and whether to override the president's veto. us as base where in more than 60 new members, the house elects a speaker. live coverage at noon, eastern time. watch online on c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. pellets claudia, terrence hayes and don martin discuss