particularly susan collins. abigail spanberger. where is abigail? get up, abigail. i also want to thank leader schumer. schumer is not here, is? your guy could not make it today either. for all of you who kept this bipartisan bill on track from the beginning to end and so did our great labor district today, i want to thank them. my dad taught me, the job is a lot more than a paycheck. it is about your dignity. it is about respect. it is about your place in the community. it is about being able to look your kid in the eye and say it is going to be ok. the billowing signing today is about a preposition -- the bill i am signing today is about a preposition. americans should be able to retire with economic security and dignity. that is the entire purpose of the social security system crafted by frank on roosevelt nearly nine years ago -- franklin roosevelt nearly nine years ago. social security's for retirees and survivors and millions of americans. we have all heard stories like the one that betty share today. employees, public secretaries, nurses and many more, many w

and it was awfully important to see a bipartisan group of senators in this case in particular, susan collins, republican of maine, and carl levin, a democrat of michigan, jointly releasing all these records, and collins in particular as a republican making an unequivocal statement about mccarthy, condemn his behavior, condemning his tactics and and really calling out that sort of abuse of the oversight power. so it was quite significant. and now, you know, we understand. the era better, much now than we did before this was released. and another from maine back in 1950, margaret chase smith spoke out against joseph mccarthy. and this is what she had to say. here's a portion of her speech from 1950. i think it is high time that we remember that we have sworn to uphold and defend the constitution. i think that it is high time that we remember that the constitution as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech, but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation, whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the senate. there is little practical distinct

and when you have susan collins and mitch mcconnell, those are two voices who have not been hesitant about pushing back on trump in the past and they could use their way to do that. host: what is mitch mcconnell's role going to be now that he is not majority or minority leader in the senate? guest: that is a good question and one that we are watching very closely. he's made it clear that he continues to push for american strength of the world stage, he plans to push for boosting defense spending. that is really his number one priority that he has said over and over again. he will be chairing the subcommittee, so he will have a lot of power in deciding how much money and where money is spent when it comes to u.s. defense. that will be a key focus for him he's also made it clear he stands by john through to fight to keep the filibuster in place. last time around trump didn't demand that the filibuster be ended to get things done easier, mitch mcconnell said no, released it is grounded in the first ministration. john thune has indicated that he plans to protect the filibuster and we kno

susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitch mcconnell now that he is not in leadership anymore. mitch mcconnell has a singular focus for the remaining two years on his senator which is to continue to advance his national security doctrine, his foreign policy doctrine, how he sees the world, and that involves of course pushing back against what he sees as a more isolationist streak popping up at his party. in one of the ways he is thinking about doing that is on these nominations. so you have to really consider is mitch mcconnell going to vote for someone like tulsi gabbard or someone like pete hegseth? a lot of it depends on what they say during the confirmation hearings and how they lay out their case in terms of who to watch on the senate floor, i think those three. young that, some senators to have their pet issue they like to focus on when it comes to certain subject matter areas that cabinet nominees could have jurisdiction over. so again, it is nominee-dependent that i would say those three are the ones to focus on. host: c-span collars also have their issues like to focus

susan collins i worked with on the ageing committee. so a lot of good relationships, and a lot of good work done. >> how was it for you to navigate politics when you're representing a swing state like pennsylvania? >> it was difficult and remained so. it's difficult because you have a -- it's not only a swing state, but it's a large state. almost 13 million people, 67 counties. and an awful lot of diversity within that state. we have 67 counties, 48 are rural counties. so the challenges in a rural community are often different than in an urban community. what surprised me, though, over the years was how often the challenges are similar. a lot of folks in rural communities and urban communities rely upon the medicaid program. a lot of communities in rural areas and urban areas have not been the subject of infrastructure investments. they both need help. so often we tend to think about the differences in a diverse state like pennsylvania, but sometimes the similarities are more, maybe less apparent but more significant than people realize

but when you see folks working together like patty murray and susan collins chairing the appropriations committees which is the first time there has been two women in the united states senate chairing appropriations committees. when they came in a year ago was the first time they recorded all appropriations bills out on time, on budget. i said, there you go. we still see the women more likely being the ones to work together. it does not mean male colleagues don't but what we see more broadly is those who are being pushed to disagree, you are not rewarded for working together as much as you are standing up and fighting. there is this belief that if i don't agree with you on everything, then we can work together. in fact i should not talk to you because we can't agree on everything. that is starkly different than in the past. >> when did you see that changing and why? >> it's been gradually changing. but i think it became this hypersonic effort when donald trump was elected the first time. because he won based on divining people. let's be afraid of each other. let's not trust each other.

. >> reporter: according to "the new yorker," republicans joni ernst and susan collins turned down meetingsh hegseth's alleged accuser, which they both disputed. do you want to hear from the accuser, senator? did someone reach out to your office, senator? yes or no? as for hegseth's overall qualifications, republicans accused democrats of being hypocritical. >> how many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? [laughter] have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? and then how many senators do you know have got a divorce for cheating on their wives? did you ask them to step down? >> reporter: tonight, senator ernst announced she will vote for pete hegseth after he provided reassurances that he would support women in the military who have been sexually assaulted. ernst, who is a survivor of sexul assault, is seen as a critical vote. a committee vote on hegseth's confirmation is set for next week. norah? >> norah: nikole killion on capitol hill. nikole, thank you very much. tonight, red flag warnings stretch for about 300 miles, from california's central coa

that's something that susan collins knows. it's something, of course, that todd young, one of the more serious thinkers, most serious thinkers on national defense issues, know. so, again, all of these character questions aside, these these so-called john tower questions. all of those aside, everybody knows the underlying truth that nobody will be served. i mean, the dod will not be served by this. americans will not be served by it. the armed forces won't be served by it. even the commander in chief, donald trump, ultimately will not be served by having somebody running the dod that's ill equipped just because of experience, or lack thereof, of running the dod. still, i the question this morning regarding the start of this hearing, jonathan lemire has to go back to why didn't the fbi ask the most basic questions from the most, most germane witnesses? were they were they instructed not to by somebody, or do you think they were doing it because they didn't want to offend the incoming administration? >> that is the great question

this is a question for susan collins and lisa murkowski who these nominees will need to go and visit with and have conversations with and take questions from and really win the trust of. it really, at this point, democrats think we can anticipate democrats will oppose many of trump's nominees because they disagree with those people being in charge of whatever department it is. tulsa gabbard or marco rubio, whomever it would be. democrats can choose to support that nominee or not. the truth of it is this is a republican senate caucus challenge of getting these nominees through. and so, the conversations i'm sure are happening over the holidays and will continue. that is up to the republican party. host: mike, what do you think of this concept of the mandate as well as randy's other point about trump bringing peace to the world? guest: i think there is a mandate. nearly 90% of the counties shifted to the right in this election. black and hispanic voters shifted to the right. trump won incredible multiracial and multiethnic coalition. what we've been talking about is the disconnect betw

given the political tensions over in france, and we will hear from susan collins as well.e will see if she aligns with consensus coming through from fed officials and if they can take their time on future rate cuts. what she has to say about the path ahead will be important. u.k. borrowing costs soaring with stocks falling and the pound tumbles, putting more pressure on rachel reeves to reassure the markets on her fiscal plans. so far they are less than reassured. we will look at her options, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ tom: welcome back to bloomberg "daybreak: europe." u.k. market tumble yesterday, pushing levels to the highest since 1998. the treasury has signaled if higher worm costs wipe out the fiscal headroom, she will choose cuts overspending tax hikes. let's bring in lizzy burden, this is a challenge to state police least for racial reis. having flashbacks to liz truss and to the budget. we saw the pressure on the pound, those dynamics suggesting the fed is turning sour on u.k. assets. what is rachel reeves to do? >> let me give you the big picture, the labour party

we met with mitt romney, susan collins, lisa murkowski and we met with the senators, the republicans to get them to do the investigation. when they didn't do it, that's when nancy pelosi formed the january 6th commission. >> all right. harry dunn, best of luck to you and good to you to see you. >>> the video of january 6th is hard to forget. a sitting congressman today described the event of a gathering of thousands of peaceful grandmas. cnn caught up with the congressman and take a listen to how he defended his words. and video just in, this is president biden arriving in new orloans six days after the terrorist attack that killed 14 people. biden is planning to meet with families of the victims. >>> we also have footage from atlanta, georgia where jimmy carter lies in repose. his grandson will join us ahead. we'll be right back. >>> closed captioning brought to you by meso book.com. >>> i do believe very strongly that america's democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it, every single person, their willingness to fight for and respect the importance of our democr

and do you know what happens with susan collins and lisa murkowski i think they both said they want to listen to the hearing, too. i know susan personally paid close attention to it. i believe without question pete is going to be confirmed. and i think you're going to have a strong support from all the republicans, men and women alike. i think he is the right person for the job. and president trump did a wonderful job by picking him to be the next secretary of defense. >> laura: senator cotton, i think americans who caught little snippets of this today were shocked, frankly, to find out that we are doing a lot of this woke stuff in the military. people don't cover it like we do and follows ever iteration of a change in policy in the military but really it has hurt in many ways our military readiness and hurt our recruiting which i think he talked about today. >> yeah, laura, unfortunately political correctness run amok and social engineering has harmed our military, therefore, harmed our national security. as you said it's probably declined recruiting numbers to the point that we are a

them, susan collins and markowski both said they wanted to listen to the hearing too. i know susan personally paid close attention to it. i believe without question pete will be confirmed. when i think he will have a strong support from all of the republicans men and women alike. i think he has the right person for that job and president trump did a wonderful job by picking him to be the next secretary of defense. >> laura: senator cotton, i think a lot of americans who caught a little snippet of this today were shocked, frankly, to find out we are doing a lot of this woke step in the military. people don't cover it like we do and now when all is iteration of change of policy and the military, but it really has hurt in many ways our military readiness and hurt a recruiting, which i think he talked about today. >> yeah, laura, and fortunately, political correctness run on math and social engineering has harmed our military, therefore, harmed our national security. it has declined recruiting numbers and we are at a recruiting crisis and it has harmed readiness. our troops

this is susan collins. mask was calling? >> what are you waiting for.e you the energy that gives you to get up and go get the energy, celsius. a ♪ like a flavorful kick in the nuts ♪ >> announcer: it's "the late show with stephen colbert." tonight... jack squat! plus, stephen welcomes josh gad! and betty gilpin! featuring louis cato and "the late show" band. and now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert! ♪ ♪ >> stephen: we're back! ♪ ♪ thank you, friends. thank you. welcome. welcome to "the late show." i'm your host, stephen colbert. ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that burst of joy. i ovulated. [laughter] you had to be here. we're less than a week away from trump's inauguration. [booing] i know. i know. as much as i'm not looking forward to it, waiting for it, it feels so tense. it feels like we're all james bond strapped to the table, and the laser is slowly inching towards our crotch, and it's like, enough about your evil plot to conquer greenland, just zap america's junk off already! we're learning mor

. >> sean: slim margin in the house, the said, mitch mcconnell, maybe less so susan collins, the madeon hold. what can the president due to convince people that this agenda is what the american people voted for if they are reluctant? >> honesty i think even more important than speaker johnston is the fact that donald trump demonstrated this last election that his agenda is a winning agenda and by the way, i would argue as you go forward and focus on these common sense issues, that don't trump ran on, once you get out of the knives out fistfight that goes on in a campaign, especially the one we just went through, i think he ends up winning over more and more people from across the aisle and that common sense agenda. again to the key to it, donald trump is not some right wing conservative ideologue trying to do some weird thing that a bunch of eggheads in washington came up with. he is talking about a common sense agenda and that is how we run, anything coins things calm down after the election he will only win over more democratic voters who agree with him on those common sense policy

mitch mcconnell swing vote susan collins potential swing vote utah john curtis another swing vote aredent all trump nominees will get through get confirmed. >> i think today look a good market on that certainly, pete hegseth, confirmation of hearing today the tone democrats are going to set. and, you know, any extraneous information they can -- they can put into the public record. i expect him to be very strong i expect him to be very affirmative in responses, been around he certainly, to me individually with many, many senators i don't think this is anything unusual as you see the turnover of an administration, where you have certain nominees that sort of catch fire then others that draw fire, i look forward i think is going to be, very enlightening going to show the visions that president trump has, for certain departments through this is nominees. >> all of this time you've been working on, executing the trump agenda how to do it with colleagues all of a sudden, you get throne an emergency situation in california. hearts break for people who lost everything, speaker johnson said op

the republican party the home of the libertarian my grandpa and then someone like ted ndcruz and susan collinsn everyone in between. if you get enough people of your coalition is broad enough to become a majority and when election what it means i believe in limited government and i believe in free enterprise not i just believe in these things that makes us more prosperous and free but i also believe those portables are the .compass but you still need a roadmap the roadmap is the law whether laws and policies and they have to be relevant to the 21st century for the times in which we live. so as a criticism of my party would say a lot of what we've done said and been for has become almost stale and sclerotic it's largely built on ideas from the 80s and 90s i grew up in the 80s i went to school in the 90s but the 80s and 90s are long gone and looked nothing like today. i think of the 21st century this question is not just free enterprise or still believe the prosperity from free enterprise does not distribute the ladies used to be where if the economy grew everyone benefits now the benefits flow

i expect susan collins or murkowski to vote against one or two, not a shock, but they'll get them, no what do you make about the bakken and forth on the medal of freedom awards this weekend? >> you get to select people of this nature. any person has been -- president has been able to do in this. there will probably be people that president trump selects that people will be shocked by the same way a president gets to have pardon power and commute sentences, the same way they get to select folks to receive the medal of honor. mike: your thoughts on this and george sores process receiving an award this weekend at the white house. >> well, if people appreciate having their deodorant locked behind closed doors at the cvs, they should thank george soros. it's him runedding these -- funding these d.a.s across the country that led to the petty crime, lawlessness, this feeling we have of homelessness and things across the country. thank him for that. and if biden wants to give him a medal for that, that's the reason why. mike: thank you very much. happy new year. we're off to the a fast start.

there was one senate republican, susan collins, who voted for every single biden cabinet nominee. willing to give biden's cabinet nominees that support and one willing to give trump's the same, voters deserve an explanation as to why. >> joey: sign collins, murkowski, lindsey graham some of those that came out early. well, we are not sure about pete hegseth. and so, is there a little bit of strategy here for president trump to name these nominees so early, and to give -- i mean, pete was up there for three weeks on the hill. all these nominees were, meeting with senators. every day would wrap with him saying there is positive momentum. do you think that that strategy will carry into the hearings or does it really come to try to get them to neutral and then when you get in the hearings win them over? >> there was certainly an element of momentum heading into new year and confirmation process. and i think what trump also understands is that the cabinet picks are bigger than just the nominees themselves. they're also about his mandate and his agenda. so let's start with the mandate.

>> i do not know how likely it is for pete hegseth, but i think everyone we are watching, susan collinsmaine, lisa murkowski of alaska, and -- they had tended not to be particularly -- he has been largely partisan, but you have to remember north carolina is a possible pick of opportunity for democrats, stated they were looking at. he is up for election in 2026. then i would say maybe james ryan could. then there is a new senator from utah who has taken the mitt romney seat, who is a bit less part is in. those -- partisan. those are why would watchburg >> i have more questions. stick around. coming up next, democrats, are they going to finally stop with the one we go low, they go a dashed -- we will break all of that down. we will be back after a short break. lakesha: childhood cancer is it's hard. but st. jude has gotten us through it. st. jude is hope for every child diagnosed with cancer because the research is being shared all over the world. watch your step! that's why visionworks makes it simple to schedule an eye exam that works for you. even if you have a big trip to plan around.

into the 2026 midterms, where does this party go and where do people like a lisa murkowski or a susan collins exist in this space for the next couple of years? yeah, this is fascinating. both major political parties in the united states are at a tipping point. there's obviously a generational change going on in the democratic party, but there's almost an ideological, generational identity change going on with the republican party. donald trump owns the republican party, owns the maga brand. who inherits that? is that jd vance, or is that the. are those the tech bros? is that elon musk or what about laura trump? if the daughter in law becomes an element of a u.s. senate campaign, or are there family members that become hugely important? because what we have seen this time is, as donald trump 2.0 has put together their transition, he's expanded the team, a post-trump gop as a still trump gop and maga with a different voice. and there's going to be a lot of egos and a lot of identity amongst republicans to seek to inherit that mantle. does that go to an extended family member, or does that go to

new reporting in the new yorker citing three sources that said senators including joni ernst and susan collins turned down offers to hear privately from hegseth's accuser. would you want the chance to meet with the accuser privately to be able to see through your due diligence in this advice and consent role? sen. banks: it is unfortunate that we deal with anonymous allegations and sources. if these people want to come forward and publicly make those claims they would be much more credible and taken more seriously. that has not happened. democrats on the committee repeated anonymous allegations today. amna: i want to clarify. i am asking if you would meet privately with the woman behind accusation in 2017. sen. banks: sure, but nobody has reached out to me to do that. at this point we need to get pete hegseth on the job in the role of secretary of defense to clean up the mess over the last four years and that is why i fully support his confirmation. amna: republican senator jim banks of indiana. thank you for your time. we appreciate it. in his final report to the attorney general special coun

new yorker" from jane mayer, citing three sources, that says senators, including joni ernst and susan collinsed down offers to hear privately from hegseth's accuser. i'm just asking, would you want the chance to meet with that accuser privately to be able to see through your due diligence in this advice-and-consent role? >> again, it's unfortunate that we would deal with anonymous allegations and sources. if these people want to come forward and publicly make those claims, they would be much more credible and taken more seriously. but that hasn't happened. and the democrats and the committee repeated these anonymous allegations today. i can't speak to other senators and who they have heard from. amna: senator banks, if i may, to clarify, i'm asking if you would meet privately with this woman who was behind the accusation in 2017. >> sure. but no one has reached out to me to do that. and at this point, we need to get pete hegseth on the job in the role as the secretary of defense to clean up the mess over the last four years. and that's why i fully support his confirmation. amna: that's republ

the republican party is home of a like rand paul and someone like ted cruz and then susan collins and. if you get enough people if your coalition gets brought in a you become a majority and doing elections. i believe in limited government and in free enterprise. not as i just believe in these things make us more prosperous and for your. i also believe those principles are the compass but you still need a roadmap. the roadmap is law. what are the laws and policies and those have to be relevant to the 21st century, to the times in which we live. just as a criticism of my party i would say a lot of what we have done, said and then for has become almost stale and sclerotic. it is still largely built on ideas from the '80s and '90s. i grew up in the '80s. i went to school in the 90s but the '80s and '90s are long gone and look nothing like today. in the 21st century the question is not just for enterprise. i still believe in free enterprise but for enterprise with tivoli today than it did 20 years ago. it just does. the prosperity from free enterprise does not distribute the way it used to

. >> i would also be interested to hear from senator susan collins and senator lisa murkowski, two republicano see these background checks. absolutely. >> also, joni ernst, who's another one who early on was was not fully on board with pete hegseth. she's a combat veteran herself. and of course, hegseth has made comments in the past saying that women should not serve in combat. so she's another one to watch. who sits on that armed services committee, who i will be very eager to see how how aggressive she is in her questioning of hegseth. >> yeah, she could stand in the way of him even getting out of committee, let alone the fight that he's going to have on the full floor. and then there's hegseth himself. and i know you have some exclusive reporting this morning about the opening remarks that he's going to make to set the tone for this hearing. what's he expected to say? >> yeah, axios did get a handle, a handle on his remarks. we're expecting to hear him say early later this morning. and one through line of his remarks is kind of embracing this idea that he is not a standard issue. secretary

susan collins, lisa murkowski, they have all said to me in the halls, i want to see this before i makeging members of the committee, not just the chairman and the ranking member, to not have seen these background checks? it is unprecedented. >> generally, you would share it's kind of a standard process. you would be briefed on what's in there. it would be kind of a pro forma thing. in this case, it's being kept very limited just to those two members. and again, they're just receiving a briefing from the trump transition team. they're not hearing it directly from the fbi. that's also a key point. it's not required to be. it's the transition team that presents it to congress. i imagine that it is possible that democrats could suggest that they would like to hear from the fbi, but i don't know what the what the process would be or if there's a precedent for that. >> and then there's the reality that they're requesting, and there's no real teeth behind the demand to force someone into actually giving that kind of a briefing. >> no, not at all. it's really up to what they choose to let you

joni ernst in iowa, perhaps susan collins in maine. these are both senators that are up for reelection in 2026, and we'd be foolish to think that's not at least part of their calculation as they go through this process. >> it's not just trump's ire, his anger, it's the spend that could come against them. as elon musk has promised to primary anybody who stands in donald trump's way, promise to use his money to primary them. all right. ryan nobles, chief capitol hill correspondent, thank you very much. and joining us now, democratic strategist and author of the salty politics newsletter on substack, julie roginsky. she worked with hegseth at fox news and along with former fox news anchor gretchen carlson, wrote a letter to the armed services committee to share their perspectives as survivors of sexual misconduct at fox news. also with us iraq veteran, army captain and ceo of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america allison jaslow and staff writer with the atlantic, tom nichols. allison, i do want to begin with you. in watching the hearin

we look at folks like susan collins, lisa murkowski, todd young, thom tillis.i mean, these are folks who are relatively moderate, who have shown in the past that they're willing to to buck the president elect. and i think we know that senate democrats want to be incredibly aggressive when they go into these hearings. senate minority leader chuck schumer had a number of private meetings with senate democrats this past week telling them to be aggressive, telling them that republicans spent the last four years throwing dirt on the democratic brand and telling them that it's time for democrats to return that favor in the next two weeks. >> and, claudia, you know, these senate confirmation hearings will also serve as that loyalty test, as you were just, you know, touching on between senate republicans and trump's white house, is there a feeling among the gop that perhaps there is some wiggle room of maybe one or maybe two of the nominees that they wouldn't necessarily want to confirm without? i guess. losing space with the incoming president? >> right. senate republ

republicans willing to vote against pete hegseth, there was possibility of joni ernst, lisa murkowski, susan collins, maybe 1 or 2 others. it seemed like there were 3 or 4 that would take the lead of joni ernst, who obviously, in addition to being a veteran, is a survivor of sexual assault. ah, is it still up in the air or. i mean, because you have more of a contact with them privately, i would think i would hope, with republican colleagues, is it still up in the air, or is this kind of just a done deal at this point? >> so so let me say again what we're doing, this whole process that we're going through is not just some formal dance. the constitution requires that we do advise and consent, but do your colleagues, your republican colleagues feel that way? well, if they want to amend the constitution, they can do that. if they want to ignore the constitution, they can do that. but at the end of the day, we swore an oath to abide by the constitution. and that means take a serious look at every one of these people and say, can you honestly stand up and say that someone like pete hegseth, who has alread

i think we should be paying close attention to, and that would be senators lisa murkowski and susan collinsmebody that nobody else is really talking about is a new senator elect, senator from utah, john curtis, who was a democrat but is now a republican and has been on the record as saying that he does not believe that nominations coming from trump nominees should automatically just be forced through. just because the president elect said that they should be. so i would be paying very close attention to how he feels about this as well. >> julie, my friend, you come from the political world. you understand the complexity of the equation that republican senators are trying to work out for themselves. gretchen just laid a lot of it out with that understanding, with the understanding they don't have the full information. you're calling it a rush job, which i agree. what questions do you think republican senators can ask with the information they have that illustrates to the general committee and to the general public the limitations of this nomination? >> well, i think the first thing you need

but, you know, susan collins, murkowski, kind of that normal group that we're always talking about. >l is one that folks haven't talked about a ton as someone to watch, but he also sees himself as part of the legacy. he clearly doesn't have a problem sometimes saying the opposite of what donald trump wants. with pete hegseth. obviously, joni ernst is at the top of that list to see how she feels about this and when what this is going to look like. >> i think at the end of the day, the balance that these senators are going to try to strike both in on the dais when he's going through his confirmation and when they actually have to vote, is whether or not it is worth it for them to go against donald trump this early on. right at the end of the day, if pete hegseth ends up being a bad secretary of defense, people aren't going to say, you know, you know what? i really think that senate shouldn't have confirmed him. they'll talk about donald trump. they'll talk about pete hegseth himself. right. and so they have that the counter to that is they've already seen with ernst how much of the blow

susan collins also has not come out publicly and said how she's going to vote.at's sort of immediately where all the attention is going to be. it's going to be on that hearing starting tuesday morning. >> yeah. and i'm going to get your thoughts, both of you, on on how the democrats kind of choose and pick which ones they really kind of lean into here. but let me ask you about pam bondi. you and i were talking about this a little bit during the commercial break. this is somebody who, you know, believed in the big lie. she advocated for it. she's definitely not somebody who felt the elections were free and fair in 2020. but let me play for you what senator katie britt had to say about her nomination. i'll get your thoughts to it. take a listen. >> when i talked with pam bondi, she committed to me to getting back to doing the job of the people, to getting back to doing what the department was, was created to do. so whether we're talking about the ag, whether we're talking about the fbi, whether they're talking about the department of defense, people want these the

a few outstanding republican senators who have not yet said where they stand mitch mcconnell, susan collins, lisa murkowski. but again, it's going to take more than three. right now, he looks like he's in a good spot. right. >> and i think there's also some question about, you know, whether ernst was she seemed to be have been looking for support. she didn't want to be the fourth person there. and she didn't really get any when she was, you know, talking about this back in december, you mentioned women in the military. and that was an issue where ernst decided to press hegseth as opposed to she could have pressed him on the sexual assault allegations. the nda that was signed. but let's look at what some of the women senators on the committee had to say. the questions they had for pete hegseth about women in combat. watch. >> why should women in our military, if you were the secretary of defense, believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks? we have hundreds, hundreds of women who are currently in the infantry, lethal members of our military, se

. >> lisa murkowski, mitch mcconnell, maybe less so susan collins in maine, does the coalition hold and what can the president do to convince people that this agenda is what the american people voted for if they're reluctant? charlie hurt. >> i honestly, i think that even more important than speaker johnson is the fact that donald trump demonstrated in this last election that his agenda is a winning agenda. and by the way, i would argue that as you go forward and focus on these common sense issues, that that donald trump ran on, that once you get out of sort of the peaked arch knives out fist fight that that goes on in a campaign, especially the one that we just went through. i think that you he ends up winning over more and more people from across the aisle and that common sense agenda. and again, the key to it is, you know, donald trump is not some right wing conservative ideologue who's trying to, you know, do some weird thing that that a bunch of eggheads in washington came up with. he's talking about a common sense agenda, and that's how we won. and i think that once things sort of

host: susan collins of maine is one of those.ocus today is doing ernst of iowa. -- joni ernst of iowa. guest: she had meetings with pete hegseth. in the second meeting she subsequently issued a statement of general support for mr. hegseth. we are continuing to remind her and other senators that time is of the essence. host: are you concerned there will be pushback against the president's nominees? guest: i don't think so. the responses we have seen from senators on all the nominees across the board has been welcomed. we have been very pleased with the response. time is of the essence. we can't have nominees sitting in the senate for weeks or months on end waiting to be confirmed. we have to get the work started and we have have agency has in place. host: ryan walker joining us for this conversation. the phone lines are available. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans independents, (202) 748-8002. to text us your thoughts or questions, (202) 748-8003. in the first 100 days is there a wish list from your orga

lisa murkowski and susan collins and possibly some others. yeah, no, i mean, you would hope you can find for that would at least oppose him. i would assume every democrat would. so, yes. but there be. but there should be a lot more than four who would oppose him and then, like i mentioned, you still have tulsi gabbard and pete hegseth. so just because he is such an agreed just because matt gaetz is so egregious you shouldn't ignore the others and say, okay, you get doubts that scalp or that one that somehow that's a cover for rest of them. and then this whole idea recess appointments which already i believe, you know, like the conservative, you know, national review has said, hey, if you've got 53 senators, you shouldn't even talking about recess appointments, you should be able to nominate. you know, there are enough senators 53 and there are enough good conservatives out there that you should be able to find people that can get 51 or even 50 republicans with the vice president to add the extra vote if you need. so you shouldn't have to be t

the republican party is home of a like rand paul and someone like ted cruz and then susan collins and enough people if your coalition gets brought in a you become a majority and doing elections. i believe in limited government and in free enterprise. not as i just believe in these things make us more prosperous and for your. i also believe those principles are the compass but you still need a roadmap. the roadmap is law. what are the laws and policies and those have to be relevant to the 21st century, to the times in which we live. just as a criticism of my party i would say a lot of what we have done, said and then for has become almost stale and sclerotic. it is still largely built on ideas from the '80s and '90s. i grew up in the '80s. i went to school in the 90s but the '80s and '90s are long gone and look nothing like today. in the 21st century the question is not just for enterprise. i still believe in free enterprise but for enterprise with tivoli today than it did 20 years ago. it just does. the prosperity from free enterprise does not distribute the way it used to. it used to

. >> of course, claire, susan collins also up in the state that joe biden and kamala harris won easilywill be up. you're right, in an offyear for the party in control in the white house. >> i think donald trump will overplay his hand. if the nominations are a status of his mental indication, they represent him overplaying his hand. if he does overplay his hand trying to go to the extreme, nay are really going to have a rough midterm, rough midterm elections in 2026. >> former u.s. senator, thank you very much >>> we will be right back with more morning joe. with more m orning joe. to buy, or not to buy? that is their question. and nobody knows shoppers better than shopify. the undisputed, undefeated, checkout champion of the world. businesses that want to win, win with shopify. >>> so, gene, as deftly as you can speak about the nfl, your new column is the truth about biden's aid to africa is being lost on republicans as president biden concludes a trip to africa, the first of his term, and likely his last foreign trip in office. he was in angola. let's talk about how important africa i

you do have susan collins and lisa murkowski, who have been relatively moderate in the senate, then youohn curtis, the new senator replacing mitt romney from utah. i think he was recently quoted in an interview saying if trump has a mandate, have a bigger mandate because i got more votes than him. it shows they are on thin ice over on capitol hill. you know, it looked differently had he swept the senate seats and had 56 or 57 senators. we will have a different conversation, so, look, i think you will not make any money betting on republicans on the hill to show a backbone and stand up to donald trump, but i think it is more tenuous than it looked a month or two ago. >> that is a compelling opinion piece in the times. it was a marine corps veteran -- they said i would like to speak up for the suckers and losers. after all, i am one. i was a 2102, taking the oath of office. 20 years later, i'm convinced america can be a force for good and soldiering is an honorable profession. i have not learned my lesson or lost my admiration for those met for men without honesty or honor. there might be

we'll see what happens with susan collins. we'll see what happens with mitch mcconnell. we will see what happens to dave mccormick. there's no reason to think that dave mccormick would vote against pete hegseth. that said, he's not up for six more years. he went to west point. if there's anybody who understands how woefully ill qualified pete hegseth is, even if you put all of these documented again, again, not anonymous documented character questions about the nominee that the republicans are blocking from seeing the light of day. even if you put that aside, people like dave mccormick, people like senator young from indiana, who's very serious thinker on defense policy, and also the new the new senator from utah who has expressed concerns about hegseth and also tulsi gabbard. i'm not saying it's over. i understand i understand the committee went went in lockstep, and there's no reason to think that that republicans will act differently moving forward. but there still are three, four, five that that we have questions about. >> well, you have me thinking about dave mccorm

the utah senator, john curtis, republican susan collins of maine, and also on the list, the former minorityeader mitch mcconnell of kentucky. lisa murkowski, republican of alaska, and todd young of indiana. this nomination ultimately would go to a full senate vote to see if mr. hegseth will bring the confirmation. mary, alabama, democrat. go ahead. mary in alabama, hello, you are on. caller: i'm sorry. i think the gentleman should not be confirmed because he does not support the constitution because it you support trump, you cannot support the constitution. host: we will hear from another mary in pennsylvania, independent. go ahead. caller: i don't think he should be confirmed, the fact he could not answer basic questions about the job that he doesn't have basic knowledge about the job, i think the senator from hawaii was asking about countries that belonged -- i forget what he asked -- but he cannot answer basic questions. the fact he did not even do research before coming to a confirmation hearing just speaks about his lack of preparation for this position. additionally, he cannot even sa

is the home of a libertarian like rand paul and then someone, you know, like ted cruz and then susan collinsryone in between. and if you get enough people -- if your coalition gets broad enough, you become a majority, and you win elections. what it means -- i believe in limited government, and i believe in free enterprise. not as -- i just believe in these things make us more prosperous and freer, but i also believe that those principles are the compass, but you still need a road map. and the road map is the law. what are the laws and the policies? and those policies have to be relevant to the 21st century, to the times in which we live. and so, just as a criticism of my party, i would say that a lot of what we have done, said, and been for has become almost stale and sclerotic. it is largely built on ideas from the 1980's and 1990's. i grew up in the 1980's, i went to school in the 1990's. by the 1980's and 1990's are long gone, and they look nothing like today. the question in the 21st century is not just free enterprise. i still believe in free enterprise. but it just works differently to

is the home of a libertarian like rand paul and then someone, you know, like ted cruz and then susan collins everyone in between. and if you get enough people -- if your coalition gets broad enough, you become a majority, and you win elections. what it means -- i believe in limited government, and i believe in free enterprise. not as -- i just believe in these things make us more prosperous and freer, but i also believe that those principles are the compass, but you still need a road map. and the road map is the law. what are the laws and the policies? and those policies have to be relevant to the 21st century, to the times in which we live. and so, just as a criticism of my party, i would say that a lot of what we have done, said, and been for has become almost stale and sclerotic. it is largely built on ideas from the 1980's and 1990's. i grew up in the 1980's, i went to school in the 1990's. but the 1980's and 1990's are long gone, and they look nothing like today. the question in the 21st century is not just free enterprise. i still believe in free enterprise. but it just works different

endorsed donald trump and why they will all, maybe with one free hall pass here and there to get susan collinsan, the fact is that republicans are not going to save us. republicans are are are are the problem. they're not the solution. the only thing that unites the republican conference together today is being sycophantic to donald trump. and unfortunately, that is spreading now to more and more aspects of society. it is spreading to the billionaire class. it's spreading to a lot of the legacy media. it's spreading to large corporations. i mean, they are raising more money for his inauguration because literally billionaires and corporations are lining up to throw money at him. so it is ultimately going to be on us. it is going to be on the people around this table. it is going to be people like the congressman who are going to have to lead this new opposition that we talked about, and it is not about pivoting away from it. it is about leaning into it. >> i think it's also imperative there's something so offensive about trump that it's hard to give them credit. but steve bannon deserves a lot