Speaker 1 (00:00):
… now found newfound admiration for the Senate filibuster. The junior senator from Arizona was in Pennsylvania over the weekend. By the way, he was one of the Senate Democrats who voted for the GENIUS bill when it came out of the Senate Banking Committee. And he was out there just crowing about the fact that the Senate Democrats had used the filibuster now four times. They stopped four bills via the filibuster. And so pretty remarkable, honestly, that the Democrats now are in love with the Senate filibuster. And given the fact that every single Senate Democrat either voted for or campaigned in favor… or I should say, in favor of getting rid of the filibuster. So it's a pretty remarkable turnaround, not that hypocrisy is something that's new in this town, but this continues to take it to a whole new level.
(00:54)
And since we're not doing that, we're going to move forward on nominations and confirm a lot of President Trump's nominees. That's the process that we've undertaken in lieu of having a GENIUS bill available for consideration on the floor. And I would point out with respect to that subject, that this is the first president that hasn't had a nominee that has been approved by voice vote or unanimous consent at this point in a Senate going back, if you can believe this, to the Ford administration. To the Ford administration. So the Democrats have opted and chosen obstruction, they've chosen blocking, they've chosen delay as their means of kind of trying to manage the institution these days.
(01:40)
But we're going to, in spite of that, continue to press forward, we're going to continue to move the Republican agenda, which starts with getting the President's nominees into place as quickly as possible. So that is the agenda for this week. And at some point, hopefully the Democrats will come back to the table on the GENIUS bill and we'll get to a point where we can put it back on the floor. Unfortunately, we didn't have that opportunity this week because they chose to filibuster it last week. Senator Ross? No. Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Senator, some of your Republican colleagues are voicing concerns with the House product on reconciliation, whether it's Medicaid, whether it's phasing out some of the clean energy tax breaks, whether it's not doing enough to reduce the deficit. How are you responding these concerns and what is the plan in the Senate? Will you take up the House bill? Will you [inaudible 00:02:31] parallel track? What's the plan going forward?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
We are coordinating very closely with our House counterparts at the committee level, at the leadership level. And we know they have to get 218 votes. And so they're going to do what it takes to get it done in the House. And when it comes over here, we will be prepared for various contingencies, obviously, one of which could be taking up the House bill and then offering a Senate substitute. But we'll see what ultimately they're able to get done. But I feel very good about where we are, where they are, and where ultimately we are going to be on that bill as well.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Are you comfortable with President Trump taking ownership of this Qatari claim and then possibly using it and then in the post-presidency as well?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
All we know about that I think at this point, I've said this before and I believe it's true, I don't think there's anything official out there, this is a hypothetical, and I'm sure that if and when it's no longer a hypothetical I can assure you, there'll be plenty of scrutiny of whatever that arrangement might look like.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Are you concerned the national security implications of that jet being given as a gift to the President?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Well, again, I've just said there'll be plenty of scrutiny. There are lots of issues around that that I think will attract very serious questions if and when it happens. At this point, all we've heard about is something that might be a hypothetical.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Can you give me your take on these Democrats going to this ICE facility in Newark? Obviously, members under Section Six have protection here to conduct oversight, but the idea that they might be arrested, they might be sanctioned, is that proper to talk about in those terms?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Well, I think everybody, we're all subject to the laws of land and everybody has their rights under our first amendment to express themselves, and people avail themselves of that opportunity on a daily basis in this country. But they need to do it within the confines of what's lawful.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Do you think they went too far?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
One last one.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Do you support President Trump's plan on prescription drugs, the executive order?
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Well, it is an executive order, my guess is that it'll be the subject of probably multiple lawsuits, and I think the courts will probably have something to say about it. But all I've said before and I don't think this is anything new in this proposal, as of many of the other proposals the President's made, this is something he passionately believes in. It's something he's talked about for a long time. And so he's trying through executive order to make some headway on lowering the drug prices for people in this country, particularly seniors years. And again, we'll see how it plays out, but I'm quite certain that there'll be lots more to say about that because I suspect that it's going to be the subject of litigation for some time.
(05:19)
Thank you all. Thanks.
(05:19)
[inaudible 00:05:28]
