Special Coverage: Mike Johnson Wins House Speaker Vote

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Now the governing can begin, 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:10.760 Tim and Carroll, we got through the formalities, he can 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.280 swear in the members now listen. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:14.040 He's got a feel relief, no doubt about it. But 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.360 Joe Matthew, I always wonder about politically, you know how 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.360 this looks better that it didn't go to a second 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.560 round or a third round. Nobody would argue that, but 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.880 that he didn't get it easily without having to have 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.880 some negotiating going on. What are the implications potentially of that, 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.720 or do we start governing next week and everybody forgets 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:31.120 about it. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:32.479 I don't know. 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:34.879 Anybody we'll forget about any of this. Let's remember he 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.800 will have a majority if Donald Trump gets the members 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.880 he requested to join his administration, a majority of one. 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:44.959 So when you see Mike Johnson talking to Hakeim Jeffreys 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.159 on the floor there, rest assured. They're going to have 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.000 to work together to make anything happen. The next step, 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.640 of course, once we get through this swearing in the membership, 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.160 they're going to have to craft out a plan an 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.160 agenda that will include borer security and extending the Trump 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.840 tax cuts. They're going to have to avoid a government shutdown. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:03.800 They're going to have to deal with raising the debt ceiling. 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:06.000 Doing all of that with a majority of one is 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.679 going to be very complicated for Mike Johnson, who is 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.840 now making his way toward the speaker's rostrum so he 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.040 can reclaim the gavel. A lot of happy folks here, 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.520 But to your point, I think, Carol, the hard part 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:18.800 actually starts now. 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.360 Did this vote today send any sort of message about 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.720 the power of Donald Trump. Mike Johnson was backed is 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.960 backed by Donald Trump, but not everybody in the party 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.840 fell in line today. 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.280 Donald Trump and Elon musked him. They both late in 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:40.280 the game endorsed Mike Johnson. We can argue that it 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.319 might have helped him actually get this done on the 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:46.399 first round, remembering that this had to happen today for 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:50.160 the vote certification on Monday, the sixth of January, right, 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.880 this is the next January sixth we're walking up on here. 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.520 You need to have a Congress to do that. That's 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.280 a joint session where that takes place in the very 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.400 chamber that we're looking at now, and you'll see Kamala 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.920 Harris preside over that vote certification. That was a point 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.840 of leverage that Kevin McCarthy didn't have, that even Mike 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.560 Johnson didn't have the last time around. And I suspect 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.240 that Donald Trump was involved in those conversations. Today we 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:13.399 saw Nancy Mace hand her cell phone over to Ralph 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.120 Norman at one point. I wonder who was on the 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.600 line there and whether that was a Florida area code. 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.679 That's the way this thing takes place now. That's the 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.880 way it's done now, and what would normally be kind 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.079 of a formality, you have to grind the gears a 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.120 little bit when you have so few people on your 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:27.920 side in this Republican conference. 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:29.519 I gotta say, Joe, I want to go back to 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.400 something earlier you said, and it's something that we have 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:35.120 many conversations with folks around this table, investment experts who 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.679 are wondering exactly what a Trump White House's second Trump 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.760 White House ultimately gets done. You talk about this slim 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:43.800 majority that will be there on the House and the 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.280 work that Mike Johnson will have to do to really 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:50.160 reach across the aisle. It does it is indicative of 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.560 maybe not everything, or not to the extremes in terms 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:55.239 of the policies we heard from Donald Trump on the 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.560 campaign trail ultimately get carried out. 0:02:58.720 --> 0:02:59.400 Well, that's true. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.679 I mean, remember, of course you've got a Republican House, 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.079 a Republican Senate, and a Republican White House. If it's 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.640 ever going to happen, it's now. But yes, the real 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.360 argument will likely fall along the lines of this tax 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:15.000 code reform. It's not just as simple anymore, right as 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.360 extending the Trump tax cuts. You have to add no 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.760 taxes on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.400 Social Security, mortgage interest, there were so many others involving 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.720 auto loans and things that. Never mind salt. We haven't 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.320 mentioned salt yet. Can you get all of that into 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.079 one bill? That's a tall order. So when you look 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.240 at promises made on the campaign trail, you have to 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:38.920 get into the granular and whether that's in fact possible. 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.040 Here we're looking at this live shop by the way 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:45.480 of Chip Roy in the back of the chamber, along 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:47.720 with some of his fellow members of the Freedom Caucus, 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.920 who were, you know, the troublemakers if you will, in 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:51.920 this case for Mike Johnson, even though he closed the 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.040 deal on round one. But what we're going to see 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:56.640 next is the speaker in the rostrum where he'll be 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.800 introduced by Haakim Jeffries and handed the gavel. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:01.920 And this is the moment that they wanted, right. 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.920 They've got their family members, their kids are with them 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.560 in some cases today this is supposed to be a big, 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.800 raw raw photo op for the conference and they'll get 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.680 to that eventually once we get by the way back 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.000 to Washington and back to governing in a week or two. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.640 It's also the confirmation. 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.880 Hearings that need to take place for Donald Trump's team, 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.000 and those are not going to go very easily for 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.360 the likes of Pete hag Seth, Tulsea Gabbard, RFK Junior. 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.120 So before we even get to writing legislation, Carol, there 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:27.760 are going to be some bumps on the road for 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:29.040 this Republican majority. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:33.400 Is Thomas Massey one of those bumps on the road, Well. 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:35.560 Boy, he sure was today, although you know everyone saw 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.280 it coming, so I feel like they just kind of 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.120 factored him out. He's made very clear that he's not 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.559 about to change his vote for Mike Johnson no matter 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.440 what he is promised. So I think it's some of 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.720 the other members that Chip Roys, Marjorie Taylor Green was 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.320 on the side of Mike Johnson in this case, Andy Biggs, 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.799 some of those folks Andy Ogles and the Freedom Caucus 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.839 who don't like the way Mike Johnson handles budgeting, the 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.760 fact that he has worked with Democrats so far, they 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:01.040 might be more of the thorn in his. 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.120 Side, you know, all right, just to rehash if you're 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:07.719 just joining us on radio, TV, across our platforms, Republican 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.320 Mike Johnson winning re election as how Speaker, overcoming resistance 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:15.440 from a small but pivotal group of conservative hardliners after 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:17.520 a flurry of last minute talks and with the help 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.320 of a critical endorsement from President like Donald Trump. You know, Joe, 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.560 you understand the workings of Washington and what goes in 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.440 and around the nation's capital so well. It will be 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.279 an interesting second term of Donald Trump, and most already 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.880 say it's going to be different from the first White House. 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:36.719 I am curious if you were sitting down though, with 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.480 the Speaker, what would be your first question to him? 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:40.599 Boy? 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.839 You know, how often do you guys talk Because a 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.239 lot of people think Donald Trump is the real speaker, 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.159 and you've got arguably Donald Trump on one shoulder and 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.400 Elon Musk on the other. So this is really framed 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:54.600 by many the hardest job in Washington, at least the 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.960 most unwonted job in Washington is being the Speaker of 0:05:58.000 --> 0:05:58.960 the House with. 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:00.240 Such a narrow mid major. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:02.640 I guess i'd ask him, to what extent are you 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.920 willing to work with hackem Jeffreys as well, because they're 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.000 going to need each other to do anything in this case. 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.520 It's not so much a power sharing agreement in the 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.960 traditional sense when you'd have a real tie, but with 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.159 one member, my goodness, they're going to have to work 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:16.880 together on a lot of things here, and that's going 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.719 to make life more challenging for Mike Johnson. Question is again, 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:22.480 how quick can they get to the border? That's what 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.640 people want to see, those who brought Donald Trump back 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.000 to Washington, and that will likely be the first bill 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:27.960 that you see emerge. 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.200 How tenuous is Speaker Johnson's position right now? I think 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:37.400 back to the challenges that former House Speaker McCarthy faced, Yeah, 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.719 just a couple of years ago before this. How tenuous 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:41.760 is his position right now? 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.640 It's less tenuous simply by the math tim they're going 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:49.440 to be voting on a rules package that I refer 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:51.839 to already here. That's one of the next procedural things 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.920 that will take place that changes that motion to vacate. 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.560 We kept talking about the procedure through which you fire 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.760 the speaker, as Kevin McCarthy, he made a deal to 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.800 get that gavel by bringing it down to a single member. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.760 That's partly why Matt Gates is famous at this point 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.120 because he took care of that. No longer in the House, 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:11.720 and by the way, he didn't show up today as 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.200 some thought he might. That number increased to nine. Now 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.000 it would take nine members to trigger a vote. 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:18.720 To fire the speaker. 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:20.640 So you've got a little bit of breathing room for 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.480 Mike Johnson procedurally but also politically because he's got Donald 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.320 Trump at his back, He's got Elon Musk behind him, 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:29.960 and will likely be in much better shape in this 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:32.040 Congress than anything we saw in the last. 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:34.960 I will say that we do have members of the 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.520 House weighing in. Representative Scott Perry from Pennsylvania say, while 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.360 I maintained my reservations about Speaker Johnson's leadership record, today 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.000 I voted in support of President Trump's agenda. We will 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:49.520 hold Speaker Johnson accountable to accomplish the Republican agenda, and 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:53.200 talking about specific issues, he must secure our southern border, institute, 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.520 commence House rules, cut and bridled federal spending, implement a 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:02.200 Congressional stock trade band. So you know, various members weighing 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:04.240 in maybe on some of their concerns. Joe and I 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.120 would assume that we'll continue to hear some of these 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.240 about what they expect out of this speaker. 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:09.760 Yes, sure you will. 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:11.640 And that's an important one that you mentioned, by the way, 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.000 not by accident, because that is a member of the 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.440 Freedom Caucus who has been on the fence with some 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.040 of this, not so much about the Trump agenda. These 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.280 are Maga loyalists, but they are not always in favor 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.320 of the way that Mike Johnson or before him, Kevin 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.880 McCarthy has worked with Democrats continuing resolutions omnibus bills. They 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.840 want regular order and they want steep spending cuts. And 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.199 by the way, I've mentioned Elon Musk a couple of times. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.600 Right before this vote, Mike Johnson went on X and 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.000 put quite a missive and said, as. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.160 Speaker, I commit to do the following. There were three items. 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.319 The very first one was to commit to working with 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:54.080 Doge and to enact the spending cut recommendations that come 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.400 from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:57.959 It may have helped him win the gavel today. 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.960 All right, Joe, do not go anywhere. Chris need you 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.040 at this hour, no doubt about that. We do have 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.640 somebody up there on Capitol Hill, our own Tyler Candall. 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.240 She's a Bloomberg News reporter. Tyler, what I am interested 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.680 in what you are picking up in terms of mood 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.760 and maybe what was going on behind the scenes when 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.920 Mike Johnson didn't initially get that vote and had to 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:20.520 do some work behind the scenes. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.000 Yeah, hey, Carol, it was fast moving up here on 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:25.760 Capitol Hill. And just to give you a little bit 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.800 of color, what's happening up here. The hill is absolutely 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.520 packed both with members but also their families as they 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.440 come to witness the new member class be sworn in. 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.200 So there is high energy here in the rotunda. I 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:38.840 can tell you that I was sticking out how Speaker 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:42.040 Mike Johnson's office earlier today before the vote, where he 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.360 told reporters that he would not engage in what he 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.679 called a quid pro quo to get any votes over 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.199 the finish line. So that's going to be the next 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.800 big question here. As Joe was talking about, what were 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:54.520 those backroom deals that may have been reached in order 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.679 to ultimately get him to that magic number of two eighteen. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.960 As Joe mentioned, the challenging part comes now, Tyler, what 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.760 does Mike Johnson have to do to be able to 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.559 actually be effective as House Speaker with such a slight majority. 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.520 Right, So, I had reporting this morning that I had 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.240 spoken to a Congressional aid who told me that they 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.320 ultimately thought that this was going to come down to 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.760 potential spending cuts, some sort of deal around that. Since 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.320 when he looked at the members who were voicing concerns 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.000 with Johnson, they were the same members who had previously 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.760 voiced concerns when it comes to potentially a Donald Trump's 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.840 agenda and what that means for the fiscal outlook for 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.640 the country, particularly anticipated tax cuts. So I think that's 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.560 going to see something that we really see prioritized in 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.760 this next congress, particularly with Speaker Johnson. Joe had also 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:43.760 mentioned this, but right before he went on the floor, 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:45.920 he put out what he was calling his list of 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.520 commitments to his conference, and they really had to deal 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.679 with this idea of fiscal responsibility, such as working with 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.320 joje and pointing independent experts that will release a report 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.160 to the public, but also urging his committees that they 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:00.680 have to take what he called, quote a great action 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.800 when it came to reviewing their appropriations, because we are 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:08.320 expecting a busy year, particularly with President elect Trump's new agenda, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.400 and it's going to include spending, and it's going to 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.760 include tax cuts. And this was just a little bit 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.040 of a preview for some of the criticism and Thorn's 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.000 in the side of Speaker Johnson that we might expect. 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.199 Tyler, I've got to say I've been watching and monitoring 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.480 to see if the President elect has made any comments 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.800 on truth social and just kind of watching to see 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.560 if he makes any comments. What, if anything, did you 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.760 hear about behind the scenes of any involvement of the 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.240 President elect in this process, especially since when it seemed 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.120 like it was a little bit touch and go here 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.320 at the end, Well. 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.040 I have to say there was actually an audible gas 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.840 peer in the rotunda when chip Roy ended up going 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.679 for President elect Trump. We know that chip Roy had 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.440 been one of those holdouts and he had previously sparred 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.199 with President elect Trump. If you'll recall, during that spending 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:58.160 debate last month, when Trump had urged Republicans to lift 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.800 the debt ceiling, he threatened Roy with a primary challenge cance. 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.040 Roy stood up and said that he was not going 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:06.640 to end up voting for that. So it was interesting 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.400 to hear that when President elect Trump threw his weight 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.400 behind Johnson, he offered to personally call members and that 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.440 included Trip Royce. We are and on the first round, 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.600 of course, trip Roy ended up going for Mike Johnson. 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:20.280 So it does appear that there was some sort of 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.800 sway there, and we are also told that allies of 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.440 Trump on the Hill ended up going into trying to 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:32.120 push and work with Speaker Mike Johnson when it came 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:35.120 to persuading some of these House Freedom Caucus members. But 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.880 ultimately important to remember that on that first round vote, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.360 trip Roy and also the Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.640 Andy Harris, both voted in favor of Johnson. 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.040 Tyler Kendall, Bloomberg News reporter joining us live from Capitol Hill. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:46.760 Thanks so much for that. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:48.760 I do want to go back to Joe Matthew standing 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:53.439 by in our Washington DC Bureau co host of Bloomberg 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.320 Balance of Power. Excuse me, Joe, so many shows out there. 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.640 I want to go back to what you said about DOGE, 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.000 the Department of Government Efficiency and the commitment on the 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:07.080 Department of Government Efficiency from the elected Speaker of the 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.400 House Mike Johnson, and hear a little bit about your 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.559 view on how this could be easier said than done. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.599 Given how much the US government spends on Social Security, Medicare, 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:23.720 national defense, health even net interest. I mean that's the 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.360 majority of the budget right there. How does the Speaker 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.120 enact the recommendations from DOGE. 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.720 It's a great question, and I'll preface my answer by 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.840 saying that this DOGE, the d for Department, is not 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.880 actually a government department, right, This is kind of a 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.280 blue ribbon panel, if you will, not, unlike other committees 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.080 that have been put together before. So we've been trying 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:50.080 to determine where's the connective tissue here between the DOGE 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:54.000 and the actual lawmaking when it comes to writing legislation 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.880 or crafting budgets. He wrote in his post on X 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.720 I commit to create a working group prized of independent experts, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.920 not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests to work with 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:09.000 DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.840 reforms to protect the American taxpayer. There's no guarantee there 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.880 that that actually happens, though, and we don't exactly know 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.600 yet what the DOGE plans to do in terms of 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.640 cutting spending. We've heard Elon Musk suggests cutting two trillion dollars, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.120 but I think to your point, Tim, they'd have to 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.520 probably crack into entitlements to find that kind of money. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.920 They would have the slash defense spending, neither of which 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:31.160 Donald Trump wants to do. 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:35.040 Yeah, I've heard that called the third rail of politics. 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:39.760 People don't necessarily want to touch that. Joe, all right, Joe, 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.160 thanks so much. Right, Yeah, Joe, thanks so much. We're 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:43.520 gonna let you go. You got a lot of work 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:47.120 to do. That's a Bloomberg's Joe Matthew down there in Washington, DC. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.320 I'm grateful for this nomination. 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.400 I'm grateful for this election, for the confidence this Chamber 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:53.240 has placed in me. 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.800 It is the great honor of my life to serve 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:57.000 this body with all of you. 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:00.200 Speaker Johnson Lang at the Republican Agenda the priority is 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:04.040 a return to in his words, to common sense after 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:07.480 winning re election as House Speaker, overcoming resistance from a 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.920 small but pivotal group of conservative hardliners after a flurry 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.600 of last minute talk something we were watching happen in 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.640 real time from the House floor. And also he did 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:19.920 have the help of a critical endorsement from President like 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:23.520 Donald Trump, who has come out tim untruths social offering 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.040 up his congratulations to Speaker Mike Johnson for receiving in 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.160 the president x words, an unprecedented vote of confidence in Congress. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:32.880 He says, Mike will be a great speaker and our 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.440 country will be the beneficiary. 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:39.280 Yeah, so wasn't just Mike Johnson he we heard from. 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.200 We also heard from Kim Jeffries. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:41.400 A little earlier. 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.680 Absolutely, Chris said it is time for us to come together, 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.920 not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans to get 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.960 things done for the people. In that spirit, House Democrats 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.640 work hard to find bipartisan common with our Republican colleagues 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:57.640 in the incoming administration on any issue, whenever and wherever possible. 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.560 Someone who will be following what kind of common ground 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.640 they altimately find is Bloomberg News Politics editor Laura Davison, 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.520 She's been sitting by listening to all of the happenings 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:08.560 on the floor of the US House of Representative. She's 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:14.680 there in our Bloomberg News DC bureau. Laura, you do wonder, okay, ultimately, 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:19.320 after listening to the Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries, followed by 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:24.080 the House Speaker Mike Johnson, their agendas, their priorities, they 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.120 certainly do not align. So you do wonder about the 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.480 common ground that they will find moving forward. 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.600 Yeah, these speeches are sort of the first day of 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:35.920 school speeches. You know, everyone's back, you know they want 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:39.520 re election back after the holidays and feeling optimistic and 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.400 you know, joyful. A lot of those feelings subside, you know, 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.560 really within just days or even hours. You Republicans have 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.680 full control. They do not have to negotiate with Democrats 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:52.080 for much of anything. They're able to use these processes 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:54.960 where they can fast track bills through Congress. So it's 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.280 unlikely that we're going to see much bipartisan cooperation despite 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.520 some of both what Hakeim Jeffreys says as well as 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.880 Mike Johnson sort of alluding to working together. Really, you know, 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.520 Democrats job in this is to sort of do whatever 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.240 they can do to delay and try to you know, 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.600 sw division among Republicans. Mike Johnson's job is to keep 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.200 his Republican party together. There are some divisions in that party, 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.280 things that Democrats could exploit. He has a narrow, narrow majority, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.320 even narrower than he did last Congress. So this is 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.040 going to be the big challenge going forward. You also have, 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:27.840 you know, Republicans in the Senate and Republicans in the 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.359 House not on the same page. In the Senate, we 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:32.600 heard John Thune say earlier that he wants to move 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.280 first with an immigration bill. In the House that we 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.480 are talking more about doing taxes first. So there's a 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.720 lot of ideas and you know, only a limited sort 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.960 of pathway to get some of these legislative priorities done. 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.399 What does the President elect want Congress to do? 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:47.720 This is a good question. 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.439 He has not weighed in some of his aids, have 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:52.760 really pushed for immigration to be that first priority and 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.680 really leaned on John Thune in the Senate to make 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.679 that path forward. What we've heard from folks in the 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.960 House is said, look, you know, every time we've tried 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.919 to do multiple things, you know, they sort of in 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:07.080 a moment of sort of shocking self recognition, we can't 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:09.479 do that. You know, we saw in Trump's first term 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.520 they tried to do with a healthcare bill that filled 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.160 failed and they ultimately moved on to taxes. What Democrats 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.520 some Republicans are saying, look, let's get taxes done. We 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.760 have a year end deadline. If we don't act, if 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:21.679 we don't get a bill pass, then taxes will go up. 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.560 We will see sort of Trump's first term signature, legislative 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:26.720 achievement go away. So there's a hard push there to 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.199 really make sure that taxes get the priority and they 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.679 aren't waylaid by other things. You know, the Congress has 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:35.639 been bedeviled by an immigration package for decades, so I 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:37.800 think there's some concern that, you know that even though 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.520 they have Republicans all in control, that that still is 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.000 done an easy thing to get across the finish. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:43.720 Yep, we've all grown a little bit older watching that 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.680 and waiting in terms of immigration. Laura, thank you so much, 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.639 so appreciate your patients and listening along and giving us 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.080 some great commentary there. Bloomberg News Politics editor Laura Davison