for reaction, i want to bring in democratic congressman peter welch of vermont.art with the decision on presidential recess appointments. that's really a blow for the obama administration. what's your reaction to that? >> well, it's not a blow so much for the obama administration. it's a blow for the effective functioning of government. i actually can see the rationale of the court. it's up to congress to decide when it's in recess and when it's not. but it's also up to congress to act on a president's proposed nominees, whether it's george bush or whether it's barack obama. and what we've done now is create a tool for congress -- this could be a democratic congress next time around, that allows them to basically deny any action on any presidential appointee. so the gridlock that we have now will only get worse. so this is politically, i think, a very dangerous development that has been created by congress and i think it's very bad implications for the future. >> going to be interesting to see how it all plays out because of this ruling. i also want to talk about

off.ain would hold peter welch was asked, what does he think about serving in the house of representatives way it has been lately, on questions of global warming. i serve with some of the finest minds of the 17th century. [laughter] name of this college evokes the beauty of our state. just two decades shy of 200 years old. 1834, the green mountain college in 1974, the year i was first elected to the united states senate. i pay tribute to the resilience and thosestitution people who made it what it is today. , through thed on depths of the civil war, when they thought vermont would disappear as a state because of the losses we had. the great depression, the first and second world wars, vietnam, the recent global economic recession into the present day. i mention this history because i to those whoy graduate today, your parents know the sleepless nights of hard work to get you to this point. that is something to remember always. .ou were fortunate you have acquired invaluable knowledge and skills. vermont in theto 1800s. leahy to getfirst a college degree. my sister the second one. i think o

off.ain would hold peter welch was asked, what does he think about serving in the house of representatives way it has been lately, on questions of global warming. i serve with some of the finest minds of the 17th century. [laughter] name of this college evokes the beauty of our state. just two decades shy of 200 years old. 1834, the green mountain college in 1974, the year i was first elected to the united states senate. i pay tribute to the resilience and thosestitution people who made it what it is today. , through thed on depths of the civil war, when they thought vermont would disappear as a state because of the losses we had. the great depression, the first and second world wars, vietnam, the recent global economic recession into the present day. i mention this history because i to those whoy graduate today, your parents know the sleepless nights of hard work to get you to this point. that is something to remember always. .ou were fortunate you have acquired invaluable knowledge and skills. vermont in theto 1800s. leahy to getfirst a college degree. my sister the second one. i think o

host: we want to welcome back peter welch from vermont.let me show you "the washington times" editorial. guest: there really was probably a lot of anger in the republican base in that district and they express it against eric cantor. verycantor was a constructive member of congress. we disagreed, obviously, but he had a tremendous step in i saw the way he treated them. he was helpful to vermont when we needed to get federal emergency management agency since. he had the best interest of the country and frankly his party at heart. i was sad to see him thrown out. it was like the chicago bills not re-signing michael jordan because they only won four championships. . he was for the republican base and for that district. they made the decision zero have to respect the voters. i think it spoke to an enormous amount of frustration that a lot of people have about their economic circumstances. i heard the caller from texas and she expressed a feeling that an awful lot of folks have that they are falling behind. the middle-class is not keeping up. p

host: we want to welcome back peter welch from vermont.show you "the washington times" editorial. guest: there really was probably a lot of anger in the republican base in that district and they express it against eric cantor. verycantor was a constructive member of congress. we disagreed, obviously, but he had a tremendous step in i saw the way he treated them. he was helpful to vermont when we needed to get federal emergency management agency since. he had the best interest of the country and frankly his party at heart. i was sad to see him thrown out. it was like the chicago bills not re-signing michael jordan because they only won four championships. . he was for the republican base and for that district. they made the decision zero have to respect the voters. i think it spoke to an enormous amount of frustration that a lot of people have about their economic circumstances. i heard the caller from texas and she expressed a feeling that an awful lot of folks have that they are falling behind. the middle-class is not keeping up. profits

let's bring in democratic congressman peter welch, who nervous on the national security subcommittee,nd the director of the middle east center at the london school of economics. congressman, there is a fundamental question at the bottom of all this. can american military forces, great as our military is, can they be used to shape iraq and perhaps the broader middle east? for at least 30 years, we've been using our military to try to shape the middle east. it generally does not work. can we use our military to shape iraq? >> my view is no. this is an iraqi political problem, and it can't be solved by the american military. maliki is no longer being considered a scapegoat. he's the problem. he was given an enormous opportunity by our american military to rebuild iraq. he had the table set for him. what he decided to do was govern in an intensity sectarian way where he created the them anity of the sunnis that had to be part of the government. now we're seeing the manifestation of that being played out, and he's a discredited leader, and in my view, there can be no future in iraq or any

peter welch was asked, what does he think about serving in the house of representatives the way it has been lately, on questions of global warming. i serve with some of the finest minds of the 17th century. [laughter] the very name of this college evokes the beauty of our state. just two decades shy of 200 years old. the founding in 1834, the green mountain college in 1974, the year i was first elected to the united states senate. i pay tribute to the resilience of this institution and those people who made it what it is today. they continued on, through the depths of the civil war, when they thought vermont would disappear as a state because of the losses we had. the great depression, the first and second world wars, vietnam, the recent global economic recession into the present day. i mention this history because i hope to convey to those who graduate today, your parents know the sleepless nights of hard work to get you to this point. that is something to remember always. you were fortunate. you have acquired invaluable knowledge and skills. my family came to vermont in the 1800s. i

captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> on the next washington journal, congressman peter welchnd the democratic legislative agenda. family research council president. washington journal begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. christiant the science monitor breakfast series, john podesta talked about the prisoner exchange. epa rules. 2016he chances in the presents a. this is one hour. >> our guest is john podesta, his fourth visit of the group. the last was in 2009 when he was president and chief executive officer for the center for american progress. he grew up in chicago, earned a bachelor's degree from knox college, and is an alumni from georgetown. he spent his early career on capitol hill. he worked with ted kennedy and later was chief counselor of the senate agriculture committee. in 1988 he founded the well-known government relations firm with his brother tony. he served president clinton as to be the chief of staff and then as white house chief of staff until 2001. he was co-chairman of obama's transition team in 2008. he is the proud father of air force captain gabe

in 45 minutes, we will talk with congressman peter welch about the 2014 political campaign season and the democratic legislative agenda. also, tony perkins. >> wi-lan sent to serve out my term as a member of congress and the southern district of virginia, effective, i will be stepping leader. it is with great humility that i do so knowing the tremendous honor it has been to hold this position. ♪ good morning on this thursday, june 12. house majority leader eric cantor after a shocking primary loss on thursday announced he will step down as majority leader it will not be on the ballot in november. what does this loss mean for the party and the leadership in congress? republicans and tea party members