mr. vought, welcome. mr. vought: thank you. sen. kennedy: in my judgment, i don't know a single person in washington or outside washington who knows more about the federal budget than you do. i used to read your suggestions during president trump's first term. many of which congress ignored. we should not have. i am delighted that the president picked you. i have read that since 2019, the population of america has increased 2% and are spending has increased 55%. under president biden, i wish him well, if we had discovered life on mars, he would have sent it money. is that sustainable? mr. vought: it is totally unsustainable. the problem is that you go on these trajectories that we are currently on and you don't know when you will get to the point of which you have some major, major problems as an economy and country. we know that historically. sen. kennedy: i hope you will start with the low hanging fruit. there's a lot. when we sent out stimulus checks to save our economy, $1.6 billion went to dead people. and the checks were cashe

mr. vought. mr. vought, will you committee to complying with all oversight asks you receive from the inspector general, the government accountability office in congress or will i get the same bureaucratic answer i've received in all the other questions? mr. vought: that's not how i would characterize it, senator. we will respond transparently to all the oversight requests and make sure subject to the advice of counsel you're getting the information you need to do your oversight responsibilities. that's a priority of my time at o.m.b. and when i get letters from senators, i take them very seriously and want to be known immediately about them so that we can get after responding to senators and what they've asked for. sen. peters: will you commit to fully and responding to oversight requests from this committee inclu f

mr. vought. thank you for really robust discussion yesterday. i a truly -- i truly appreciate that. you were here six and a half years ago as well and i do remember that, as your kids had been sitting behind you during that as well. and, one of my colleagues, very inappropriately, questioned you on your faith as part of your first confirmation hearing before the senate. i just wanted to commend you because during that period you handled yourself with extraordinary grace. i truly apprecia i just want to be on the record as stating that i think people of all faiths should have a place in the public square. as the chair of the senate doge caucus i look forward to working with you to make the government more transparent, accountable, and efficient. it is impossible to achieve these goals if we do not even know how washington is spending tax dollars. during my time in the senate i passed numerous laws to do this. one requires the department of transportation to report all projects which are $1 billion

mr. vought for coming. [inaudible] [laughter] thank you mr. chair i'm excited to be on. mr. vought thank you for coming out before us. i want to start by reading "you had said. quote, there certainly is going to be mass layoff and firing paper chiclet some of the agencies that we don't even think should exist. i want to give an opportunity to clarify what are the agencies you don't think should exist? >> i didn't say that. if you go back a look at the video when he said that in the interview i said there needs to be. i did not make an announcement on behalf of the incoming administration that there would be. i'm not here to do that or elaborate on any plans to that effect. i'm not sure they exist. >> okayni let's go a little bit ahead here. there's some has some space of federal reserve. and others she said in the past it's very hard to square the fed's independence with constitution but can you elaborate on that? i'm not here's a think tank president. i'm here as it would be directed president spoke at on that matter pure inca his behalf or s agenda. >> we are trying to asse

mr. vought's vision for america. gut programs, run up the deficit and deliver all those benefits to the billionaires. that is the vision -- hurt ordinary families, help the already best off and increase the debt. it is a devastating vision and completely at odds with how trump campaign, sang he was for families. >> i saw you ask the acting director regarding russell vought's activities at omb because of the white house press secretary's comments about it. have you gotten a response? >> we have not gotten a response. we have seen reporting that said he was involved with stephen miller in preparing for the dark of night destruction of these programs for families and it was vought -- mr. vought -- who assembled the assistant directors and the deputy directors to prepare a response. he appears to be acting as omb director without being confirmed. one of the questions we have asked the administration is, is he on the payroll? is he a senior advisor? is it appropriate for him to serve in a capacity he has not been confirme

mr. vought and he has chosen not to answer those questions.e committee deciding, the majority decided to hold the boat now at this moment as private room off the floor of the senate chamber, we are here to say that that is not okay. this nomination is so troubling that certainly the discussion between the public, between members of the committee should be held in the public and we should benefit from each other's concerns and perspectives before a vote is held. both of our requests, and extension in a public debate and discussion before the boat were rejected and thus we stand here rather than participating in a sham process in secret off the floor of the senate chamber. mr. vought has done so many things that make him dangerously unfit. he illegally held up military aid for ukraine contributing to president trumps first impeachment. he coordinated an order at the end of the last trump administration to strip civil service protections from tens of thousands of nonpartisan dedicated capable american government employees. sorted only by the fail

mr. vought would be disastrous. if you rely on medicare or nutrition assistance, mr. vought would put those services in danger. on the other hand, if you're among the wealthiest of americans in in this country, mr. vought is a wave of good news. he's a staunch advocate of tax cuts for the untrarich, deregulation for america's megacorporations, even if that means adding trillions to the deficit. as we will all see tomorrow for ourselves, confirming mr. vought would be a disaster for america's working and middle-class families. finally, i'd like to say something about president trump's nominee as secretary of energy, mr. chris wright. there's a lot, a heck of a lot in mr. wright's background that should trouble americans who care about affordable energy and creating good-paying clean jobs. mr. wright is one of america's wealthiest fossil fuel executives and has a history of sounding like a climate change skeptic. he once said there is no climate crisis, and, quote, we have seen no increase in the frequency of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and floods. what on earth is t

mr. vought did. i want to reiterate one thing yesterday two days ago president trump talked about the golden age. it's a golden age for drug manufactures and it's a golden age for big oil companies the golden age for -- that's not a golden age for people who need help golden age of american workers for helping those who need food stamps and other golden age for -- the golden ages for a limited few. you could not have a worse nominee and the more powerful position than mr. vought. on the subject first, yes. we just had the hearing yesterday and it's all coming up. project 2025 they used to say he had nothing to do with the trump presidency and it has everything to do with the trump presidency and as they have learned i will -- i hope we will get some votes but it will hurt their constituents as much as anybody. [inaudible] that i or any clean energy which i wrote in large part the ira is the law to impound those funds to be unconstitutional absolutely. yes. [inaudible] hegseth is so unqualified he ran

mr. vought, the chief cook and bolt washer -- bottle washer of 2025. this episode, what happened today, that following russell vought and project 2025 is a loser, a loser of course for america, but a loser for him. now that donald trump has rescinded the omb order, he should rescind the nomination of russell vought as well. if not, mr. vought will be the architect of more losses for president trump because the next time this happens, russell vought will be the one calling theshots at omb -- shots at omb. i sat down a few days ago with mr. vought in my office because he's seeking a nomination. he told me plain as day -- plain as day, if confirmed these are the kinds of things he wants to do at omb. the senate must not confirm mr. vought to lead omb. his views are way too fringe for the majority of this country and i'm sure if you asked in a secret ballot, from a majority of the republican senators who sit across the aisle from us. but tomorrow the senate budget committee is scheduled to hold a markup of mr. vought's nomination. i join ranking member merk

mr. vought.rate what is at stake for working class families better than donald trump's pick for omb director mr. russell vought. this is one of the most influential alsos in -- positions in the entire white house, responsible for not only producing the president's budget but also executing the president's agenda across the executive branch. i'll be candid. mr. vought's appointment to omb director would be a nightmare scenario for working americans. it is difficult to imagine a worst choice to implement white house policy than the chief architect of project 2025. let me repeat that. because our republican friends don't want to talk about 2025, but at the same time, they're likely to vote for someone who was the chief architect of the project in a powerful position to implement it. head of omb. you cannot, you simply cannot be pro-worker and support the nomination of russell vought. the last time he worked at the white house, mr. vought pushed radical budget proposals that gutted social security, m

mr. vought becomes the head of omb. it's one of the most important agencies in the government. they oversee every federal agency, every town, every locality, every family is is going to be affected. you want to get your drug prices lower? vought doesn't like that. look at 2025. you want to feed hungry kids? vought doesn't like that. look at 2025. you want to preserve and expand $30 insulin. vought doesn't like that. you want to make the tax system fairer and not have tax cuts for the wealthy but help the middle class? vought doesn't like that. he wants it to go to the wealthy. he was in my office yesterday. i asked him, what part of 2025 would with you disagree with? he couldn't point to a single one. in this panoply of awful proposals, he couldn't name a single one he didn't like. he's also a proponent of impoundment of funds. it may be unconstitutional, but it could cause real damage, as the cases would go through the courts when he sued for it. that means he can pick what he doesn't like and just end it even if congress has voted for it in a bipartisan way. so this man would

mr. vought's goal is clear and simple. he wants to dismantle the social safety net and starve america with the most radical budget cuts in living memory. in the past, he's called for gutting social security, gutting medicare, medicaid. he wants to eliminate the department of education. he's proposed cuts to disability payments for retired veterans. he wants to cut snap benefits, raise drug prices. all in the name of an ultraright, extremist ideology that prioritizes the needs for the wealthy few. they wants to cut the daylights out of everything else so they can give tax cuts to the very wealthiest in our society, who are doing quite well. web i asked him -- when i asked him which parts of project 2025 he disagreed with, he was unable to give me a single answer. i'm also deeply worried mr. vought will disobey the law when it comes to following through on congressional spending. president trump has begun issuing executive orders that jeopardizeses billions in bipartisan infrastructures across the country. they say this is t

mr. vought is very frank saying i believe that's just the ceiling. i believe the president gets to decide how much is spent on each program. we had this argument back in 1974 when we had the budget and impoundment control act. we had this argument in 1996 when we had a single line veto budget line veto and it was struck down by the supreme court. this law is not in question but today he says he will continue to violate the law when he is in this position. and, in fact, it was a comet he helped direct on-screen that the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. . mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call -- we're not? okay. thank you. mr. president, i think we all remember the situation just a few short months ago in the leadup to the election. democrat senators and senate candidates were declaring they would eliminate the filibuster or carvouts that render it meaningless. the democrat leader said the days

mr. vought to explain. if you look at the document/pell grants,/low income heating and energy programs/rental assistance. i asked him about all of those tell me wait these are woke and weaponized programs and again and again what he said is i'm not here to defend that document. he wrote it and he named it in the tipped us off about what is going to do and nobody will be surprised when he comes over and it has the thumbprints of russ voght project 2025 all over it slashing the programs of every day people who count on it. he's a nominee who is told with all is going to do things that will be very harmful to the american public that we need to reject them. thanks so much. >> good morning everyone. they carry off about my colleagues are sharing this morning and i don't know how many they had a chance to take it in, i'm going to carry forward a little bit what senator cain was talking about. while mr. vought responded to senator cain saying he wasn't there to talk about this report. he's the coach and he wrote

mr. vought's nomination any further, until he gives the american people more answers. if mr. vought, the chief architect of project 2025, intends to continue breaking the law at omb and harming our communities in so many ways, he should return to the committee and explain himself. he should answer for the mess he launched on the american people this week. the committee's hearing was last week, before the funding freeze was issued. the american people need new answers. if he's doing the right thing and communicating what he's going to do in this powerful position at omb, he should return to the committee for another hearing. mr. vought tried to hide the truth during the hearing last week, but the truth of his plan was on full display this week. the future of our hospitals, schools, and food banks should not be in the hands of an ideologue who -- this is bad faith, and mr. vought needs to return to the committee to give the american people some honest answers, or at least comprehension as to what the hell happened this week and what is the plan for moving forward. until then, i

mr. vought fight for if confirmed?because i believe it's important. both sides here directly and candidly from the president's nominees before we're asked to vote on their nomination. after all, the debate over president trump's nominees is not just about senior-level positions in the administration. the debate on nominees is a debate about the president's very agenda and about who will benefit. whose side are these nominees on? president trump promised an agenda that will fight for the working and middle class. he promised a golden age for the country. but actions speak louder than words, and so far the president's nominees suggest if there is any golden age coming, it's only one for the very, very elite. so democrats will continue to get the president's nominees on the record on very important questions. will donald trump's nominees focus on cutting costs or will they be more interested in cutting sweetheart deal for big businesses? will they protect our communities? will they focus more on protecting special interes

mr. vought's confirmation in committee, vote in committee, until we answer these questions and resolve this constitutional crisis. >> last night in guyians of federal law donald trump decided to stop federal funding which as my colleagues have pointed out would impact everything and whether impact everything from small businesses to local law enforcement it child care -- to child care. just a week ago he took his east of office and i said that day we have that swearing in, that inauguration in the capitol for a reason. we don't have it at the white house because in are three equal branchs of government understood the constitution. the power of people that were in that rotunda came from the people who were not in that rotunda. so as we stand here today people should think about the mom who do not know if she can get her child to child care or a teenager in a cancer study hoping that will save his life or the people from minnesota last week on the day of the topography ration it was minus 6 degrees who depend on heating assistance. they are standing here with us today. so, this memo, these tw

mr. vought should not try to impound these congressionally approved funds, because we know mr. vought wants to impound in many, many places and not spend money that's needed. this is a small but classic example of how the federal government's action, not inaction, can get your prices lower, real action, spending the $300 million we put in the budget in december and more funds if needed can reduce bird flu, department of agriculture knows how to do it, can help farmers reduce the bird flu in their flocks, and get our prices of eggs back down again. let's get to work. the money is there and ready to be used. we need the federal government to work overtime with experts in the coming months to keep the outbreak in check and keep grocery prices in check for families. now, on the i.g.'s, last friday, while most americans were asleep, president trump conducted a midnight massacre of many of the federal government's nonpartisan independent watchdogs. the president did not notify the congress of his decision, as is required by law. the president did not offer any substantive explanation

mr. vought previously led the office for part of mr. trump's first term.author of project 2025. that's the controversial heritage foundation blueprint for a second trump administration. our white house correspondent, laura barron-lopez, joins us now for more on that hearing. so, laura, remind us of who russell vought is and what the omb does across the federal government. laura barron-lopez: the head of the office of management and budget, geoff, is not usually a household name, but it is an incredibly important position in the white house. and the head of the omb oversees spending and can review all regulations across agencies that agencies write, is in charge of the president's budget policy, and is often involved in hill negotiations. now, when it comes to russell vought, vought served in this role, as you noted, geoff, during the first trump administration. and he wrote a project 2025 chapter specifically on transforming the presidency and expanding its powers. and in the time between the first trump administration and now this incoming one, he was hea

mr. vought is the godfather of the ultra-right. the chief cook and bottle washer for project 2025, which would decimate the lives of so many americans. lisa: as for the trump agenda, today a first barrier. a federal judge temporarily blocked the trump executive order to end birthright citizenship, saying it is blatantly unconstitutional. that is not yet dissuading some republicans in congress who propose to codify trump's birthright idea. >> this opportunity will not come again, at least not for a long, long time. lisa: in washington, a sense of the opportunity and concerns around a fast-moving new presidency. for the "pbs newshour," i'm lisa desjardins. geoff: and let's dive a little deeper into what we heard from president trump at davos today. david wessel is a senior fellow in economic studies at the brookings institution. welcome back to the program. >> good to be here. geoff: so president trump speaking to the davos elite, among other things, he blasted european regulation and trade policies. your assessment of his speech and

mr. vought until it fully comes out what they all intend to do. the funding president trump is halting isn't optional. congress has approved these funds, and they are law. the president does not, no matter what he thinks, have the authority to ignore the law and ignore congress. let me be clear -- this is not an isolated act, unfortunately. this comes a week after trump pardoned violent criminals, who sought to overturn our election, days after trump fired independent watchdogs across the government in a naked attempt to shroud his actions from the american people. i can assure every american that democrats will pursue all available options, legal and otherwise, to halt this assault. i've talked to the attorney general of new york state, tish james, and she and her association, i believe she's the head of the state association, state attorneys general association, are going to use all their legal power to stop this illegal act. i implore my republican coll colleagues, who know in their hearts and their minds that this is a reckless and unconstitut

mr. vought previously led the office for part of mr. trump's first term.uthor of project 2025, the controversial heritage foundation blueprint for a second trump administration. our white house correspondent laura barron-lopez joins us now for more on the hearing. remind us of who russell vought is and what the omb does across the federal government. >> it is not usually a household name but it is an incredibly important position in the white house. the head of the omb oversees expending and can review all regulations across agencies, in charge of the president's budget policy and often involved in hill negotiations. when it comes to russell vought, he served during the first trump administration and wrote a project 2025 piece on expanding powers. he was head of a conservative think tank center for renewing america and there he drafted hundreds of potential executive orders and memos in preparation for a second trump administration. geoff: you are of course tracking his confirmation hearing today, what stood out to you? >> republican senators welcome this

mr. vought testifying at his confirmation hearing. c-span's "washington journal" discussing the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy, from washington and across the country. coming up thursday morning, "usa today" justice department correspondent bart jansen will talk about president trump pardoning january 6 offenders and former president biden's preemptive pardons for his family and supporters. we'll talk about future policies under president trump and other news of the day with florida republican congressman carlos gimenez and congresswoman judy chu and political reporter drew friedman with actions aimed at the federal government work force. c-span's "washington journal" join in the conversation live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. .. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered, sponsored by these television stations and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪ >> buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving to democrac

mr. vought. and, by the way, speaking of chickens, here is a reason -- here is another little reason -- there's so many -- right now the price of eggs is through the roof. $5, $6 a dozen. it was $2 a year ago. it was $4 in november. why? because there's something called bird flu which ares killing off -- which is killing off millions of chickens. when you have fewer hens, fewer eggs. fewer eggs means prices go up. when we were still in charge in november, we put $300 million into the budget to help our farmers deal with bird flu, with avian flu. it helps them get the ppe they need. it helps them isolate the diseased chickens, because you need to build different types of facilities. it helps them learn what to do. that could be cut. that could be cut, and the price of eggs will go up to $8 or $10. all of these things have an effect in one way or another on average working people. how about all the hundreds of thousands of workers who have now gotten jobs in clean energy? it is a great thing, for t

mr. is vought's nomination until we get answers. i join fellow democrats in calling for a two week delay in the markup. firings, yesterday president trump showed his true hostile colors to working people and union members in america. without cause the president took the unprecedented step of firing a duly appointed commissioner of the national labor relations board two years before her term was set to expire. then last night president trump fired two democratic members of the u.s. equal opportunity, equal cloiment opportunity commission -- employment commission. these unlawful firings are a direct assault on working people. the decision will worsen unfair hiring practices and erode workers' ability to push for better wages and safer working conditions. what these firings will do is stack the deck against employees trying to organize or join a union to get better benefits and better pay. donald trump, he says he wants to help working families. this is no way to do it. and these firings are clearly unlawful. unlawful. these purges are

mr. vought who wants to be head of omb, which controls the budget of the federal government -- that he wantedederal workers. he wanted not to go to work -- he wanted to classify them as villians, his words, not mine. i can tell you this -- for a whole lot of federal workers, they've already hit that goal. they are traumatized. and i worry like heck -- they say, gosh, i don't know what i should do. maybe i'll take the offer. but before you sign that and send it back in what may be an illegal offer that's not funded that chances are you're not going to get paid, think a little bit about t -- it. if this becomes one other kind of passing fad where there's not any enforcement and not a payment, if you sign that and send it back, chances are you have put an indication that you're going to be the first person that gets riffed. maybe without that six-month severance. i also got to wonder, you know, we're a couple thousand air traffic controllers short right now. if air traffic controllers -- by the way, take about a year to get trained -- if 5,000 of them say, you know what? i'm going to take that o

mr. vought. no nominee is more threatening, more antithetical to the needs of working people than this godfather of the ultra right. russell vought is is the godfather of the ultra right, chief cook and bottle washer of project 2025. when americans voted for donald trump, they were very clear they wanted inflation to go down. they want more affordable prescription drugs. they do not want project 2025 running the show. but that's precisely what will happen if vought becomes director of omb. if you're one of the tens of billions who benefits from social security, medicare, medicaid, russell vought is a nightmare scenario. if you want lower drug prices, you can forget about it if vought is run rpg the show at omb. if you wanting lower energy costs, if you want the u.s. to stand up to china, if you want america to create better clean jobs, russell vought is very bad news. but if you're part of the ultra rich in this country, if you are an oil executive, russell vought is your golden ticket. if there'

mr. trump and omb director-to-be russ vought -- very dear friend of mine -- and the doge brothers, elon musko forth, they want to, if i read it right, sir, they want to disempower the regulatory state, really the socialists. they want to undermine it. and they want to use supreme court, you know all about this, constitutional expert, two decisions, right? chevron deference and ep if a v. west virginia. the supreme court basically has said, go ahead, because the regulators, the alphabet agencies have gotten way too big for their britches. so this is the all part of that follow through, it seems to me. >> it's all part of the follow through, and it's leading to someplace even better, even greater. we have to remember that as great as west virginia v. epa and the case undoing chevron deference are, we're still not finished until we end the barbaric and ultimately, i believe, the unconstitutional practice of law making by executive bureaucrat fiat. larry: right. >> i keep two stacks of documents in washington, one of them a few inches tall. the laws passed by congress last year with. the other t

and russell vought, director of office of budget. he will personally ask mr.ohn ratcliffe questions and he knows what they are going to ask about marco rubio, too. watch. >> i heard john's hearing, he's been director of national intelligence, we agree cia is vital for our country, we have to get back to its roots and focused on core mission, not things like climate change or whether an african country will pass gay rights legislation. i'm confident john will get it done and advance interest of our own citizen and our own economy, not those of other countries. we wish every country well, we have to put our own citizens first. re >> ainsley: arabia shrine circus plans to target china. top priority is united states and he's a hawk on foreign policy. >> brian: kristi noem's confirmation hearing is postponed because of paperwork is issue. doug collins next week because of paperwosh -- paperwork issues. >> ainsley: you don't want to be first one, i rather be at the end. >> brian: or easy ones like doug burgum go first. they will ask him burglar -- >> ainsley: what i

mr. thune: for the information of all senators, senators should expect three votes starting at 5:30 p.m. on monday. a procedural vote in relation to the voughttion, a confirmation vote on the wright nomination under the order of january 30 and cloture on the bondi nomination. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate will stand adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on monday. >> assent is gaveled out for the saturday. confirm doug turn for the advance and nomination of christopher wright to the u.s. energy secretary doug collins ahead of the department of veterans affairs. final votes on those nominees are expected sometime next week. watch live coach of the senate here in cspan2 when members return. ♪ c-span's "washington journal" for a live form involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington to across the country. coming up friday morning americans for prosperity reviews his organization's recent national tax-cut campaign legislative agenda during his second trump administration. doctor georg

mr. vought would be disastrous. if you rely on medicare or nutrition assistance, mr. vought would put those services in danger. on the other hand, if you're among the wealthiest of americans in in this country, mr. vought is a wave of good news. he's a staunch advocate of tax cuts for the untrarich, deregulation for america's megacorporations, even if that means adding trillions to the deficit. as we will all see tomorrow for ourselves, confirming mr. vought would be a disaster for america's working and middle-class families. finally, i'd like to say something about president trump's nominee as secretary of energy, mr. chris wright. there's a lot, a heck of a lot in mr. wright's background that should trouble americans who care about affordable energy and creating good-paying clean jobs. mr. wright is one of america's wealthiest fossil fuel executives and has a history of sounding like a climate change skeptic. he once said there is no climate crisis, and, quote, we have seen no increase in the frequency of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and floods. what on earth is t

mr. vought previously served in the first trump ainistration. you can watch live on c-span now, a la free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> listening to programs on c-span3 c-span radio is easy. tell your smart speaker "play c-span radio," and listen to washington journal daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern, public affairs events and weekdays catch washington today. listen to c-span any time, just tell your smart speaker "play c-span radio." >> marked the inauguration of donald trump as the 47th president of the united states with a free commemorative inauguration button from c-span. simply scan the qr code on the right or visit c-span.org/buttons to request yours toda

mr. vought isou testifying befoe senate committee on subject. it's important that we build a record about the deeply harmful plans he has for the country. it's an opportunity for americans to see for themselves how truly radical president trump's second term could well be. on the born alive bill, under president trump, under president trump it will be a golden age the antichoice, the extremeabout choice movement. the bill we are voting on today, the republican so-called born alive bill is pernicious as they come. it attacks woman's healthcare and outright fear mongering and allows more legal risk to doctors on something that's already illegal. the situation targeted by this bill is one of the most heartbreaking moments a woman can ever encounter, agonizing choice to end care when serious complications arise in pregnancy. it's moments like this we can support women and doctors most. not use them as political football as this bill does heartlessly issue of choice to the states? remember that? that's out the window. this bill is a metaphor for what

mr. vought previously served in the first trump ainistration. you can watch live on c-span now, a la free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> listening to programs on c-span3 c-span radio is easy. tell your smart speaker "play c-span radio," and listen to washington journal daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern, public affairs events and weekdays catch washington today. listen to c-span any time, just tell your smart speaker "play c-span radio." >> marked the inauguration of donald trump as the 47th president of the united states with a free commemorative inauguration button from c-span. simply scan the qr code on the right or visit c-span.org/buttons to request yours today. quantities are limited. >> one day after being confirmed by the senate, former florida senator marco rubio was sworn in as u.s. secretary of state by vice president jd vance. following the swearing in, slicker terry -- secretary rubio expressed gratitude for serving in the senate as he addressed employees at the state department. >> good morning, everybody. how we doing? i wan