Senate Majority Leader John Thune joins us now. That was the Minority Leader in the Senate. Senator Thune, welcome back. Good to be with you, Brian.
Thanks. Did you hear Senator Schumer, he says, lawlessly, Doge is cutting things from the budget. Lawlessly? Yeah, they are, they're grasping right now. Let's put it that way. This is a sort of a, you know, an act of desperation on the part of the Democrats who have never been willing to cut a penny out of any government program. And in every budget fight are always trying to spend more and more and more. So it's not surprising that they are acting this way. It is a, I think, fairly predictable, but unfortunate again that the Democrats seem unwilling to allow any review or scrutiny of government programs that could be run a lot more efficiently. And I think that's what Doge is all about. Do you agree with this, cut four?
I really want to emphasize to people that this is a very important point. If we don't solve the deficit, there won't be money for medical care. There won't be money for social security. We either solve the deficit or all we'll be doing is paying debt. Nobody, it's got to be solved or there's no medical care. There's no social security, there's no nothing. It's got to be solved.
It's not optional. America will go bankrupt if this is not done. That's why I'm here. Do you see it that way? Well, I think it's, you know, the question is how soon that happens. But yeah, it's an inevitable, that is the track that we are on. And we've got to change that trajectory, Brian, because if you continue to spend more and more to finance the debt, and now we spend more on interest on the debt than we do on national security, on defense, if you can imagine that.
So he's right. It's a matter of time. And we've got to start bending the spending curve in the right direction. We start doing that we could get good growth in the economy, we can get back on a more sustainable fiscal path. But at the moment, there is no question that unless we're willing to make some hard decisions that have been postponed and put off for way too long, we are headed, you know, it's a that is a dead end we're headed into and not good for the country.
And so that's why this exercise is necessary. Senator Thune, do you have any problem with the way they're approaching things so far being that so much of this is unprecedented? No, I mean, I think that, you know, there's a lot of, obviously, from the Democrats in particular, and some of the media criticism of, you know, the who's who's in charge of all this. But, you know, honestly, in some ways, I think you need people from the outside who have expertise in this field, because the, you know, the government isn't in many ways just incredibly antiquated the systems that are used the bureaucracy built upon bureaucracy, the red tape, the silos in which things are done instead of creating and, you know, an integrated, efficient, taxpayer friendly, and technology driven, you know, government instead of this, this old paper driven bureaucracy that's existed for years and years and decades and decades. So, you know, in a lot of ways, it'd be great if, if, you know, you could fix it from within.
But I think, frankly, you need some some eyes that bring fresh perspective, and are willing to take on some of the stereotypes that, you know, have existed for way too long. So far, with every nominee that President Trump has put forward, they've gotten through, Matt Gaetz was withdrawn after a couple of weeks, I never thought that was serious anyway. But when everyone got through and Kash Patel is on deck, right now, if you look at where the other presidents were at this point, in 2009, Obama, pretty impressive 17. In 2017, Trump had 14. In 2021, Biden had seven. And now you have shepherded 18 through. And now today, Kash Patel could be 19, correct? Right, Kash will be 19. And we'll, we'll get that one done this afternoon.
And then of course, we've got Linda McMahon teed up, obviously, next. And then we've got James Greer, who's the US trade rep is also a 30 hour. And you know, and remember, Brian, the thing about this is the Democrats aren't playing ball on any of this. I mean, they are blocking, delaying using every dilatory tactic that they can to try and prevent President Trump from getting his people in place. So we're having to work around that. And I think we have effectively done that to the point that we are ahead of pace relative to anything we've seen going back to about 2001.
But you just have to grind them down. And you know, it's unfortunate that's what it takes. But that's the kind of political environment we're in right now. And these Democrats have so much Trump derangement syndrome, that they can't see straight.
And you know, you hear that rhetoric on the floor every day. And anyway, it's a, it is a process, but we're going to keep at it. And there's a lot more we have to get done and a lot more nominees we need to get through. Well, yeah, I mean, it's a heck of a pace.
You got to stay a couple of weekends. That certainly makes a difference. You can't get anything done if you don't have a team in place. And even though Trump likes to put his hands on things, he's got to have cabinet secretaries working in that direction. Now you got to get ambassadors seated. Like for example, in Israel, that's not a ceremonial position. That matters a lot, correct?
That is. And Mike Huckabee is a great nominee for that position. In fact, he's the perfect nomination nominee for ambassador to Israel, of course, ambassador to China, also a critically important one right now, given what's going on in the world.
So those are all teed up. And you know, the thing is, I guess, Brian, you know, I think maybe a lot of people don't realize this, but the Senate, by virtue of the Constitution, Article One, with advice and consent, we literally spend two thirds of our time on personnel. I mean, we have to do not only all the judges, all the judiciary comes through the Senate for confirmation, the federal judiciary, but you also have 1100 executive branch nominees positions that are subject to Senate confirmation, meaning that we have to do 1100 of these.
And unfortunately, what happens too often, and I, you know, you, an administration gets to office and some of their people don't get in place until the third year of their four year term, which is ridiculous. So I'm a big believer that we've got to figure out how to streamline and expedite that process. But in the meantime, we're going to do everything we can the old fashioned way to just keep putting them, putting them through and getting them in their position so they can implement the president's agenda.
If you don't mind, take a step back. Fundamentally, you're looking at a big debate between the House and Senate, both Republican majorities. The House, Speaker Johnson's been insistent, I need one bill. If I have to break up this thing into two bills, I'll never get my whole caucus together.
And you went ahead and Senator Lindsey Graham also right by your side and said, I'm doing two bills. And now there's going to be a voter-rama, I think today, where people can put amendments to one bill. What would that one bill consist of? And what would the second bill consist of? And why not just do one?
Well, I think we're, I'm game. And if the House can execute on getting one done, more power to them. I think at the moment, what we're trying to do is preserve optionality for the president. The president has campaigned on and said his number one priority is securing the border. And this bill that we're doing today is heavily focused on giving the president the resources he needs to secure the border. It also helps rebuild our military, which is something that desperately we have fallen farther and farther behind in terms of making sure that in a dangerous world, our men and women in uniform have the weaponry, the technology, the training to do the job that we asked them to do. And then it's focused on energy and in restoring energy dominance for this country. So there are three priorities addressed in this bill. We know the tax piece has to be done, but we also have till the end of the year to do that.
The current tax law doesn't expire until December 31 of this year. And that's going to take a little while longer. But we're on the same track.
And I tell people, you know, we have a bicameral system in this country, we have a House and a Senate, they're structured differently, procedurally, they operate and function very differently. But we're headed to the same goal. And so we'll get there. And I'm hopeful I tell people I'm encouraging and supportive of everything the House is able to do. But we want to and the Senate do our part to and make sure that we're prepared to address what I think are the really urgent needs right now starting with border security, which again, the president's number one campaign promise. I'm Ben Domenech, Fox News contributor, editor at large of The Spectator and editor of the transom.com daily newsletter.
I'm inviting you to join in depth conversations every week on the Ben Domenech podcast. Listen and follow now at Fox News podcast.com. So yesterday it came out put on truth social that President Trump said, hey, you know what, I want one bill. Lindsey Graham said the House approach was preferable because it implements my full agenda. He said instead of Lindsey Graham's approach, everything not just part of it.
He said he wanted all of his legislative priorities advanced in a single big bill. You came back and said, well, that caught me, that caught me by surprise. So in what way did it catch you by surprise? You said I didn't see that one coming.
Well, that's the, the anchorman line. I did not see that one coming, but I think the, yeah, I mean the president obviously has waited at different times. In many cases, he does that in our, in our, in the context of meetings with him that happen, you know, in a more private setting. He actually went out and said something publicly yesterday.
But what I can tell you, Brian, is that we coordinate closely with him and his team. And, you know, JD Vance, the vice president, was up here at our lunch yesterday, took a bunch of questions on this subject. And what's clear to me at least is the, again, that the, I believe the president, although he's always said he favors one big beautiful bill, which is fine, we can get that done, more power to him. But I think that the, the one thing that doesn't include it isn't included in the House bill, obviously, and that's permanency for the tax pieces. And that's one of the things the president wants. And so there, you know, that bill is going to have to be changed or modified if it comes out of the House, you know, when it comes over here to the Senate too. So I guess what I'm saying is this is a process, it's a long process. And I think the president and his team, as we have had conversations with them about this subject for some time now, realize with the narrow margin in the House, you know, the challenges that they're going to have in getting this done. If they can, great, more power to them, we will work with them to get all the pieces of a reconciliation bill across the finish line.
But in the meantime, the Senate, we're able to, and we're here today, and we're prepared to execute on addressing those three immediate needs that I mentioned earlier. And I believe that preserves optionality for the president. It also encourages the House to move. I think it creates forward momentum. And so we want to do our part and be good partners and getting, as I said, all this across the finish line.
So the president has what he needs to get the job done for the American people. All right. So right now, you and Speaker Johnson are speaking? Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, we communicate regularly, you know, every day, almost every day anyway. Yesterday, it's clear the president of the United States was really ticked off that Vladimir Zelensky said this after he met with Russian delegation cut 15. Unfortunately, President Trump, with great respect for him as a leader of the people, which we respect very much, the American people who constantly support us, unfortunately, lives in this disinformation space. So he feels like President Trump's in a disinformation space. That is not something that's going to win the president over. He blasted Zelensky. He says he's got low approval rating, has to have elections, and he's a bad leader.
So obviously, this reminds me very simple, very similar to the campaign, even when he's going against Republicans. Your thoughts about where we stand right now in the Ukraine-Russia war? Well, I think everybody and President Zelensky certainly, you know, everybody needs to take a deep breath. And I know that President Trump wants peace in Ukraine.
We all do. You know, next week, March 3 years of this horrific war beginning and the administration is working hard to end it. And as we've seen in the past, the president has been instrumental in getting our European allies to contribute more to defense spending. He's been working with both Ukraine and Russia to end this horrible war. And I think you've got to give him some space to do that. You know, again, the rhetoric's been a little hot, but I don't, I think at the moment, at least, let's see how this, where this lands. But wouldn't it be great if we could, you know, find, finally get to a peaceful resolution here. And I think that's what everybody wants to see happen. But it's going to, you know, it is again, it's a process that takes a little bit of time.
And so we just got to be kind of patient. But there's a faction within the Republican Party that does not want to finance this war anymore. And you know it. I believe that the Ukraine are the good guys in this. If they had their druthers, they would just be a westernized nation, prospering the best they can with an imperfect democracy. It's Russia that is the problem.
But what do you do with people in your own party that said, I'm done with this? Well, I mean, I think there's a there's that strong sentiment out there. And of course, I hear it. And, and I think that, frankly, I don't have any question about this. Putin and Russia are very clearly the aggressor in this conflict.
There's, that's a, that's just a fact. But I also think that at the end of the day, the US support and assistance, much of which helped rebuild our own industrial base here, our military industrial base, because a lot of the weaponry that we sell to or support the Ukrainians with is, you know, is creating jobs in this country, too. But it also, I think, is probably limited in the end. I mean, there's a there's a place in where American support and the support of the American people is limited. And so that's why I think it's important that they try and wind this down, figure out a way to achieve an outcome that, you know, retains Ukraine sovereignty, and, and hopefully, puts them and our European allies in the region in a better position relative to the aggressive posture that Russians take.
And I think that's what we all want to achieve their brain. So Rahm Emanuel teeing off on Trump for saying essentially that it, that Putin has all the cards, cut 27. We did it, Russia's always wanted to negotiate with the United States.
That gives them their superstar, super powered status. That was their objective, one of the strategic objectives. We did a China deal, quote unquote, there's no increase in a single Soviet being China bought and Trump called it the greatest trade deal. Kim got no military exercise in the United States and the Republic of Korea for nothing. Yeah, Donald Trump is the worst negotiator because his only goal is vanity.
Your reaction to that? Well, I think that I disagree with that. I just think that at the end of the day, what the President is always trying to achieve is is a result as an outcome. And he has a capacity, I think, and you've got to let him use it, uh, to make deals and, uh, to find areas of agreement where others have tried and failed. And in this circumstance, at least, I think this is where, uh, this is a three year war, which nobody's been able to resolve. It's a puzzle that's, uh, been very complicated.
And I think you're gonna have to have all the actors at the table to get it resolved in the end. You have a vote. Yeah. You have a vote around with today just to, Oh, just to close this out. And is it, this, is this a backup plan? Is, is this one of two bills, a backup plan if the House doesn't get it across the finish line?
Well, it is. I don't like to refer to as a backup plan, but it's an option. And I can, as I said earlier, I think it preserves optionality for the President and addresses, uh, some of his most immediate concerns. And we had Tom Holman and Russell come up and speak to the Republican senators last week and say, we have got to have, if we're going to do the job secure in the border, we have got to have what you've included in this bill. So we think that it addresses an immediate need. Um, the other pieces of this are going to come and will come later, whether that comes in the version of a House passed resolution sometime next week or in the weeks, uh, subsequent to that, uh, one way or the other in the end, we'll get these, uh, merged up and put something on the President's desk that hopefully gets things done.
But we said this all along, Brian, and I, and I, I think it makes all the sense in the world. Uh, the most immediate needs are, uh, national security, border security, uh, and energy development. And I think those are addressed in this bill.
So if the President wants to move forward with this, he's got an option to do it. Gotcha. Senator, uh, majority leader, John Thune, busy day today. Thanks so much for the quality time for our audience. Senator, best of luck. Thanks, Brian. Appreciate that. And, um, uh, and I, I won't tell you who my emergency contact is.
I'm going to tell everybody what that means right after the break. Yeah. All right. All right.
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