Speaker Johnson and House Republican leaders hold their weekly press briefing.
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00:00We put that together really purposeful, too.
00:04He's a full-service speaker.
00:05He's got skills.
00:07Aw.
00:08Need some caulk?
00:10Well, good morning, everybody.
00:13Good morning.
00:15Today marks 100 days of President Trump's second term,
00:20and I am honored that he has chosen to celebrate in my home state of Michigan.
00:25There's no better place to celebrate 100 days than in Macomb County, Michigan.
00:32The first 100 days proves that we are headed in the right direction,
00:38the direction in which 77 million people voted for.
00:43Just look at the White House lawn today.
00:47Pictures of violent, illegal aliens that Biden let into our country.
00:53These rapists, murderers, and child molesters have no home here in the United States of America.
01:04And guess what?
01:05There's room on the White House lawn for a lot more of them.
01:09And that's what the American people voted for.
01:13And we are going to keep going until every single one of them is removed to make our streets for Americans safer.
01:23Thankfully, there's a lot less of those illegals coming in now.
01:28Because apprehensions at the border are down 94%.
01:35And border patrol averaged the lowest daily nationwide apprehensions in history.
01:43President Trump is taking action and Congress is passing border security bills.
01:48We've sent a message.
01:51The border is closed.
01:53Now, on the other hand, Democrats' message is open borders and literally putting violent MS-13 gang members before the American people.
02:09That's their message.
02:11Look no further than their recent trip to El Salvador.
02:15One of which was funded with, yes, taxpayer dollars.
02:19Instead of meeting with their constituents, Democrats catered to MS-13 gang members.
02:29Not the family of Rachel Morin or the family of Lincoln Riley.
02:34No, no, no.
02:35They would rather have MS-13 gang members who entered our country illegally brought back to the United States.
02:45That is the Democratic Party.
02:48Own it.
02:49On numerous occasions, they have sided with violent, illegal aliens and gang members.
02:58Democrats are doubling down on their failed agenda.
03:03Why?
03:04Because they have no plan, no vision, and no leader.
03:09Or maybe they do.
03:12Maybe their next leader is in MS-13.
03:17Meanwhile, House Republicans, we have our leader.
03:23And that leader is our president, Donald Trump.
03:26He's unleashed American energy, taken out terrorists, and restored common sense by protecting women's sports.
03:36And he's achieved all of this in his first 100 days.
03:43Now, turning our attention to our business and our work this week, committees have been instructed and we will begin to pass pieces of that one big, beautiful bill.
03:55We will identify savings and investments that will make America secure and competitive.
04:03Now, as we continue our committee work, I encourage you to watch the markups very, very closely.
04:11You will see Democrats go on the record supporting the largest tax increase in American history.
04:22Benefits for illegal immigrants and violent gang members because that's who they support.
04:28And Democrats want the destruction of American energy and the American energy industry and the good-paying jobs that come with that industry.
04:42And before Democrats begin their fear-mongering, which we know they'll do, let me be clear.
04:49The only cuts that this bill makes are to the waste, the fraud, and the abuse that are in their bloated bureaucracy.
04:58And somehow Democrats will have a problem with those.
05:03They ignore the fact of what the American people want.
05:07The American people want lower taxes.
05:09The American people want good-paying jobs.
05:12They want a safe and secure and, most of all, competitive America.
05:18That's why House Republicans will continue our work this week to put Americans first and make America safe and secure again.
05:29While Democrats who are lost and leaderless fear-monger and fight against the American people's agenda,
05:35we will get to work to pass that one great, big, beautiful bill.
05:40Now I will turn it over to my freshman colleague, Troy Downing of Montana.
05:46Thank you, Troy.
05:52What's that?
05:53You probably don't need that.
05:54I'm feeling towering over there.
05:56Well, first of all, to leadership, Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, Whip Emmer, and Chair McClain,
06:03thank you for allowing me to speak about this.
06:07I'm really excited, and thank you all for being here and listening.
06:09I'm very excited about this first 100 days.
06:15President Trump, you know, in his first term talked about promises made, promises kept,
06:20and I think this time it's on steroids.
06:23And I think it's important because this country was at a precipice, was absolutely at a precipice.
06:29And I hear some of the critics saying too much, too fast.
06:32And I'm saying it couldn't have happened soon enough and it can't happen fast enough
06:35because we can't afford falling off that precipice.
06:38I mean, as a nation, everything that we talk about, you hear this American dream,
06:43that's being squandered, has been squandered.
06:45That brass ring is getting farther and farther away.
06:47And the policies of this president have started to pull that back in everything that he's doing,
06:52in helping with the economy, in tax policy,
06:56in having trading partners trade fairly with this country, which is something that's overdue.
07:03Everything that's happening right now, securing the border,
07:05is all going to come back and bring that brass ring back that is that American dream.
07:09And I'm really, really excited about that.
07:11You know, 140 executive orders.
07:14Our job now is to start codifying those so they're not fungible,
07:17so that the next administration can't undo that.
07:19We need to have policy.
07:21We need to have laws passed on that.
07:23You know, I'm looking at the investment.
07:25Everybody's talking about the trade policies.
07:27What has that resulted in?
07:29In just this first, you know, 100 days,
07:31we've got, you know, $5 trillion being expected to be reinvested in this country, 451,000 jobs.
07:39I mean, talk about giving you an ability to rebuild that American dream.
07:43We are on that path.
07:44We're looking at gas prices down 6.3%.
07:47Earnings on all private sector employees grew 1.4%.
07:51Doge.
07:53Doge.
07:53I mean, so many of us are shocked at what they were uncovering.
07:57You know, $160 billion, and that comes to about $1,000 per taxpayer in waste, fraud, and abuse that's being called back.
08:06And it can't happen soon enough.
08:08And the other thing that affects my district, affects this entire country, is that invasion at the southern border.
08:13And we have seen a stop to that almost instantly.
08:18You know, only nine illegal aliens were released in the United States since the president was sworn in.
08:23That's a 99.99% decrease.
08:27I mean, as I said, this couldn't happen fast enough.
08:30I believe this country was at a precipice.
08:32I think the president is delivering on his promises.
08:36And this conference is ready, willing, and able to start codifying this into law so that it continues to claw back everything that is the American dream, everything that's great about this country.
08:46And I'm happy to be part of that team.
08:57President Trump's first 100 days in office can be described in four words.
09:02Promises made.
09:04Promises kept.
09:05Thanks to President Trump, the border is more secure than it's ever been.
09:09And criminal, illegal aliens are off our streets and out of our country.
09:14Under President Trump, American energy is being unleashed.
09:18Domestic production empowered and historic investments have been secured.
09:22We've seen waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government exposed and rooted out like never before.
09:29And common sense has replaced the woke nonsense that had saturated our government and way of life.
09:36President Trump has moved at a record pace to bring America back from the pit the Biden administration left us in.
09:45With Joe Biden in office, our nation endured the influx of millions of unvetted illegal aliens, criminal aliens, from all over the world into our communities.
09:55American businesses were held back by an expansive regulatory state.
10:00And policies that lack truth and disregarded reality put our children and families in jeopardy.
10:07But no more.
10:08The American dream is being renewed and the American people can once again be prosperous, safe, and free.
10:15But to keep this train going, Congress must act.
10:18Our members are hard at work crafting a reconciliation bill that will deliver President Trump's America First agenda for our great nation.
10:28And we won't rest until we get it done.
10:30Because failure is simply not an option.
10:34And I yield to our leader, Steve Scalise.
10:37Thank you, Whip.
10:38Well, anybody who's been following since the day President Trump took the oath of office for this second term knows that President Donald Trump has been working nonstop at a feverish pace to deliver results for the American people.
10:52I don't think we've seen a president in 100 days get more things accomplished, follow through on more promises to get this country back on track.
11:03And we're only 100 days in.
11:04Obviously, the things that we've been working with this president on are really going to be starting off in a much bigger way with this one big, beautiful bill.
11:14The budget reconciliation process formally starts today with the reconciliation bill.
11:20Seven committees go to work this week.
11:23Next week, another four committees will continue doing that important work.
11:28And this has been about a year in the making.
11:30This is not something that happened overnight.
11:32All of our committees have been meeting both individually.
11:37We've been meeting with the president for about a year to get to this moment and start delivering on those things that we all ran on.
11:44These are not just campaign promises that Donald Trump talked about on a campaign trail.
11:50This is also something that House Republicans said we would do.
11:53We said we would prevent a massive tax increase on American families.
11:58If Congress takes no action, there would be a $4.5 trillion tax hike on families.
12:05And if you listen to Democrats who are all going to vote no on this package, let's make no mistake about it.
12:11They've been clear from the beginning.
12:13They just want to obstruct everything.
12:15You saw it at the State of the Union.
12:16When President Trump said, look, this 13-year-old boy beat cancer.
12:20And they all just sat there on their hands, angry because President Trump was highlighting somebody else's success.
12:27And I think the American people got disgusted when they realized a whole major party in America is just going to oppose anything President Trump does because they hate him as an individual.
12:36Even when it's good for America, and believe me, preventing a tax increase on over 90% of American families is good for America.
12:45But every Democrat will vote no because they want a tax increase on American families.
12:50Every Democrat will vote no on a bill that's going to secure America's border.
12:55You've seen President Trump deliver through executive action on things he can do.
12:59And it's resulted in amazing results, over 95% reduction in border crossings illegally, deportation of hardened criminals, violent gang members, murderers, rapists, finally sent back to prisons in their country where they belong, where many of them came from.
13:20And what are Democrats doing?
13:22Democrats aren't celebrating that.
13:23That they're flying to other countries to try to get hardened gang members in prisons released back into the United States.
13:31It's lunacy.
13:32But that's where their party is because they are void of any ideas.
13:37They are a leaderless party.
13:39The Democrat Party literally has no leader except AOC and Crockett and Bernie Sanders.
13:44And that's what their party's become.
13:46They're just opposed to everything.
13:48They don't want to produce more American energy.
13:50But the good news is we do.
13:51That's also going to be in this bill that we start debating to allow America to produce more energy so that we and our friends don't have to be dependent on foreign nations like Russia or Iran for oil and natural gas.
14:06We can do more of it.
14:08We can lower costs for families.
14:09We can create more jobs at home.
14:12We can ensure that more manufacturing can be done in America.
14:16That's all going to be part of this bill.
14:18We're also going to make our military more competitive.
14:20Everybody knows China's been incredibly aggressive at not just their naval fleet, developing hypersonic weapons, and America had fallen behind under Joe Biden.
14:32And Donald Trump said we are going to address these inadequacies.
14:36And if you look at what's in this bill, again, addressing major problems to make our country competitive again militarily, and every Democrat will vote no on that as well.
14:47And the good news is Republicans said, well, if Democrats are just going to block everything, if Democrats want a tax hike, if Democrats do not want secure borders, if Democrats want to make our country more dependent on foreign nations for our energy, that's why they lost the election.
15:03Those days are gone.
15:04We can actually fix all of these problems without any Democrat support.
15:08But they've chosen to just go the other way because their far-left radical base won't let them work with Donald Trump on anything that's good for America.
15:20But that hasn't deterred President Trump.
15:22President Trump is resolute in fighting for those hardworking families who have been struggling.
15:28Again, the tax increase when they talk about millionaires and billionaires, it's over 90% of Americans who would see a tax increase if no action was taken.
15:38That's families making $50,000, $60,000 a year.
15:42That's not the rich.
15:43That's the people who are just barely getting by, who have been struggling under the weight of the failures of Joe Biden's economy.
15:50The waitress, who's maybe working two jobs, barely getting by, and President Trump and this Republican Congress are going to deliver on no tax on tips, so that that single mom who's maybe working two jobs can have a little bit more money in her pocket and be able to take her kids on a vacation or invest in her kids' college.
16:10That's what we're doing this week.
16:11As we watch the Democrats oppose everything, just because they've become a party derelict of any ideas, this is a Congress of leadership and action, working with a president who's probably done more in 100 days than any other president we've ever seen, and the best is yet to come.
16:31And our leader in this fight, who's been marshalling us through the whole way, is the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
16:38Thank you, Leader.
16:39Thanks to all of you.
16:39Welcome back.
16:40Hope you all had a blessed Passover and Easter.
16:42We did.
16:43Our members are excited.
16:45It's a great day in our country.
16:47Thanks to the Republican Party, America is back, and we're excited about it.
16:50I talked to the president twice this morning already.
16:52He's having a big celebration for the first 100 days in Michigan, as Chairwoman McClain noted, and he's excited about all of that and everything that we're all doing together.
17:01We had a big meeting of the Republican conference this morning, and they're all excited.
17:05They were all home for the two-week district work period, and they were moving around their districts and talking with their constituents and getting lots of pats on the back.
17:14It's a great time for the country, and you can sense our optimism about all that.
17:19It's been noted a couple times here, but 100 days ago, not far from where we're standing right now, President Trump made his historic return to the presidency.
17:28He made a lot of promises, and as Whip Emmer noted, the four words that best describe this administration so far is promises made, promises kept.
17:36We've recounted among this group many times, 77 million Americans delivered President Trump a landslide victory.
17:44We had our highest popular vote total ever as House Republicans, 74.8 million, and we got a mandate to do exactly what we're doing right now.
17:53We have not wasted a moment.
17:54President Trump has accomplished more in the first 100 days than most presidents do in their entire careers, their entire tenures.
18:00The Atlantic, right?
18:01I don't know if there's an Atlantic reporter here this morning, but that's not President Trump's – they're not a fan of him, right?
18:06Yesterday, they described him this way, quote, he is the most consequential American leader of the 21st century, and that's an understatement.
18:15President Trump has – here's a list – removed men from women's sports, ended DEI in the federal government and the U.S. military,
18:20expanded oil and gas extraction to lower prices, taken steps to end unfair trade practices,
18:26secured trillions of dollars in new investments in American manufacturing,
18:29deported criminal illegal aliens, stood up for religious liberty and rooted out anti-Christian bias,
18:36combated virulent anti-Semitism on college campuses.
18:40The list goes on and on and on.
18:41That's just barely scratching the surface.
18:42That's in 100 days.
18:44We're just getting started, and that's one of the reasons that we're so excited.
18:48Nearly every public opinion survey found that voters in the last election were most concerned about two things.
18:53This is just one metric for consideration.
18:55Inflation and the wide-open border and the crisis that created.
18:59Look at this.
19:00On just these two issues, in 100 days, legal crossings are at an all-time low, as Congressman Downing noted,
19:08and inflation is falling rapidly.
19:10President Biden often said that he had exhausted his executive authority.
19:14He told me that we needed new laws.
19:15He told me this many times himself.
19:17We had to stop the border crisis, but Congress has to act.
19:19I pleaded with President Biden, do your job.
19:22Use your executive authority.
19:23He claimed he didn't have it.
19:25But as President Trump has just demonstrated, all we needed was a new president.
19:28We needed real leadership.
19:30We didn't need new laws.
19:31The Trump administration has stopped illegal border crossings.
19:35Congressman Downing said it well.
19:3699.9% success rate.
19:40The border crisis is solved.
19:41More than 100,000 illegal aliens and gang members have been deported, and that makes Americans safer.
19:47They feel more secure again.
19:49Groups of migrants are actually stopping their journeys, and they are turning around.
19:52You know why?
19:53Because we've got a new sheriff in town.
19:55Due to President Trump's border policies, we now know again that deterrence works.
19:59On inflation, President Trump promised to rapidly drive down prices and make American goods affordable again.
20:07The consumer price index beat expectations, actually dropped 0.1% in March.
20:12That is the first time that has happened since COVID.
20:16Inflation is cooling.
20:17Energy prices are down, as we all know.
20:19Trillions of dollars in U.S. investments have been secured by the Trump administration.
20:23And again, we're just getting started.
20:24President Trump built the greatest economy in the history of the world in the first Trump administration.
20:28And we know that he can do it again.
20:30And we're going to help.
20:31And that's what we're engaged in.
20:33People are excited all around this country.
20:34We set fundraising records in the first quarter.
20:36We gave all the numbers out to the members this morning.
20:40I raised $32.2 million in the first quarter.
20:43It's an all-time record for a Republican speaker in a midterm.
20:48I'm not taking personal credit for that.
20:49I'm saying this is an all-team effort.
20:51Every House Republican is out working.
20:53Their sleeves are rolled up.
20:54They're working around the clock.
20:55We're setting fundraising records.
20:57The vulnerable Republicans from the swing districts and the vulnerable Democrats swing districts, it's the patriots and the frontliners, okay?
21:04The patriots outraised Democrats two to one.
21:07They almost doubled what Democrats raised, and they have almost doubled the amount of cash on hand right now.
21:12That's an indication of where the American people's sentiment is.
21:16They feel.
21:16They see that Republicans are delivering and Democrats are in disarray.
21:20While we're working to build on President Trump's successes and codify his agenda into law, the Democrats just still don't get it.
21:28I mean, they just keep demonstrating they don't get it.
21:30More than 100 days into the 119th Congress, and the contrast could not be clearer.
21:33Everybody said, recounted some of this today, but they don't have any message.
21:38They don't have a clear leader.
21:40They don't have a clear vision.
21:41They don't know what to do.
21:42Their platform has been repudiated, and they're turning on themselves.
21:46You know, the vice chair of the DNC is going to spend tens of millions to take down his own incumbents.
21:51That shows you where they are.
21:52They've resorted to cursing and shouting and outrageous political stunts.
21:58Their approval ratings are in the low 20s.
22:00Their most vulnerable members got outraised 2 to 1, as I mentioned, and it just goes on and on.
22:05Two polls I just want to highlight, and then we'll go to your questions.
22:09There was a poll that came out a little over a month ago.
22:13It was Quinnipiac.
22:14And I think it's the most telling poll of the first 100 days of this Congress.
22:18But I got the graphic in front of me.
22:21It was Politico published it.
22:22Lots of people talked about it.
22:24The headline says, Democrats face historic discontent with the base.
22:26Now, what they did was they polled Democrats and their approval of their own party and Republicans' approval of their own party.
22:35I mentioned this before, but Democrats are underwater 9%.
22:38They have a net negative 9% approval rating in their party, whereas Republicans in Congress are enjoying a 69% approval rating.
22:48So that chart is stark.
22:51It's the largest chasm between the two parties in history.
22:54It's the highest marks we've ever gotten and the lowest they've ever gotten.
22:56It tells you where they are.
22:58This morning, CNN has a new poll.
23:00Getting you a nod right there on the front row, right?
23:03Republicans' view of GOP leadership, 78% approved.
23:06Thank you, CNN.
23:0821% disapproved, all right?
23:10Democrats' view of Democrat leadership, 42% approved.
23:1457% disapproved, stark contrast between the two.
23:18In one of the most baffling political displays that we've ever seen, congressional Democrats used their district work period to fly to El Salvador and provide comfort to a wife-beating MS-13 gang member who entered the U.S. illegally.
23:30I mean, it was a shameful performance, and I hope their constituents do not forget it.
23:33We won't.
23:34And we reflect on the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
23:37It's very clear which party is fighting for the American people, for a stronger and safer and more prosperous America, as Leader Scalise just said.
23:45We're happy to be here, and we're happy today.
23:47You can probably tell.
23:48Take your questions.
23:48Yes, sir.
23:49Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
23:51On the subject of polls, polls about the first 100 days of President Trump's administration were released a few days ago, and he has the lowest approval rating of any president in the last 80 years, according to Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos, I believe.
24:06Other polls suggest similarly low numbers.
24:08How do you interpret those numbers, and is that not a sign that your conference, your party, you'll even need to be changing course, given those low record ratings?
24:15No, look, there's always a – in any new administration, it's a roller coaster, right?
24:21When you come in and you make dramatic change, which is what he did, he's delivering on the promises made, there's some bumps along the road.
24:28I mean, we're changing everything.
24:30As we said, when President Trump was running, I told him and we told our own voters he could be the most consequential president of the modern era.
24:36Now the media is – all of you are acknowledging that it's true.
24:39By extension, we can be the most consequential Congress as well because we quite literally have to fix every area of public policy.
24:47The last four years was an absolute, unmitigated disaster, and we've got to fix it all.
24:52So when you're doing that, it's disruptive in a way, and the early initial people, they have an emotional reaction sometimes for the big changes.
24:59But what they're seeing and what the real polling is showing is that they understand that we're headed somewhere.
25:05This is the – out of the gates, all these big achievements that we just recounted, and I said we're just getting started.
25:10The reconciliation bill is the big chunk of this.
25:12The vehicle through which we will deliver the America First agenda is this big, beautiful bill, which is why we call it that.
25:19The president's approval rating is better than it was in 2017 when he got started, right, because people trust him.
25:25The thing about President Trump is he's had an administration.
25:28This is not a new thing.
25:30People remember.
25:31It's hard to remember.
25:31It seems like it was 20 years ago.
25:33But right before COVID, we had the greatest economy in the history of the world.
25:36There's been a little question and concern about the rocky start and some of the stock markets, some of the tariff policy and all that.
25:43But right now, even today, people are beginning to see the dust settle on that.
25:46They understand there was a master strategy behind this, and they're seeing the results.
25:50We're going to have 100 countries by some accounts, and maybe higher, renegotiate their trade policies with America because of what President Trump did.
25:58He's the only leader bold enough to have done that, and that's going to be a net positive, of course, for all the American people.
26:03It's going to be more fair for us.
26:05We trust the executive to do that.
26:07We trust this executive to do that, and President Trump has had some great achievements.
26:10So, look, polling goes up and down.
26:12We all talk about it, pros and cons.
26:14But at the end of the day, we're going to deliver on these results, and the American people are going to reward us for it.
26:17Just to clarify, two of your members, at least if I can like, are both considering runs for governor of New York.
26:23Those, one seat in particular, Congressman Lawler seat, maybe one of the most competitive in the country.
26:28They can't do both.
26:29They can't work for governor and congress.
26:31Will you have conversations with them about what works best for your conference, and have you started having those conversations yet?
26:37I have lots of conversations.
26:40I love them both.
26:41They're two of my favorite people and my most trusted colleagues, and they're both super talented,
26:45which is why they get talked about for doing other things.
26:47We have lots of – look, we've got a very talented group here.
26:50We have lots of House Republicans who are being courted to run for Senate or governor or do something big.
26:56I mean, my preference is that they all stay here with me, right?
26:59We get the job done.
27:00But I don't begrudge anybody for having other opportunities, and we ultimately support them in whatever they do.
27:07But are we having conversations?
27:09We are, yeah, and that's all I'm going to say about it.
27:11But I – ultimately, look, I support my friends and colleagues – these are more than colleagues.
27:16They're friends.
27:16And I want all of my friends to do well and go as high as they can, be of their highest and best use of the country.
27:20So we'll see how it shakes out.
27:21Mr. Speaker Johnson, do you plan on meeting with governors to advise them on how they might restructure their budgets if you're reforming SNAP and Medicaid?
27:29Because Kathy Hochul is working on the New York budget.
27:32Yeah, I'm not sure Kathy Hochul and I are going to sit down and talk about New York's budget.
27:38But I will just say this.
27:39We're going to be good stewards of the taxpayers' resources, okay?
27:42We are – do not believe the hype, do not believe the lies the Democrat Party has said.
27:48We had their ads taken down, okay?
27:50They were running ads around the country in swing districts trying to convince people that Republicans were going to gut Medicaid.
27:57It's just simply not true, and that's why their ads and billboards had to come down.
28:01We sent them a cease and desist letter because we pointed out they were lying.
28:05By the way, the Democrat leaders in Washington have zero credibility with the American people.
28:09Remember, they tried to tell us for the last four years that Joe Biden was an exceptionally talented, brilliant, on-point leader, okay?
28:15They don't have any credibility on any of this.
28:17We're going to prove the opposite.
28:18The committee markups, as Leader Scalise noted, we have seven committees marking up components of the Big Beautiful Bill this week.
28:24We have four others next week.
28:26That third week that we return, the budget committee will merge all that together into the one Big Beautiful Bill.
28:31And you will see the results.
28:32We are going to preserve the programs.
28:34We're not gutting Medicaid.
28:36We're going to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, which every single American should be applauding.
28:40The Democrats should as well, but they're not allowing themselves to do it.
28:43And we're going to make sure it works better.
28:44We're going to preserve the program, not cut it.
28:46It's exactly the opposite of what the Democrats are saying.
28:49So the states will adjust to all these things, and we will make sure that the people who need these benefits and rely upon them are protected, okay?
28:57That's the whole thing.
28:58I have an apology for a wonky tax question.
29:00One of the big concerns for some of our investors and Bloomberg readers is that the tax treatment carried interest.
29:05The president wants to change that.
29:07What are your views on that?
29:08I've listened to the discussion, a very thoughtful discussion, back and forth amongst interested parties, and I'm not going to forecast where that comes.
29:18I mean, I know, look, I'll say this about our ways and means Republicans.
29:21They have put in, I mean, literally scores of hours down in the basement with the whiteboards, gaming out the very ideas and making sure that we make the right choices.
29:31You'll see a lot.
29:32That markup will be very telling on that, but they've come to a consensus.
29:36I'm not going to get out in front of them before that's discussed and released in committee, but we've heard from interest groups around the country, and we want to do right by them.
29:44Look, I think at the end of the day, I think what's going to be great about this legislation, the reason it's going to be so consequential,
29:50the reason it's going to be the biggest legislation, I think, in many decades that Congress has passed is because not only are we going to give everybody a tax break, right?
29:58They're not going to have the largest tax increase in U.S. history at the end of this year.
30:01It's going to help hardworking families.
30:03It's going to be turbo fuel, turbo boost to the economy because I think this will send a message of stability to the markets, the bond market, the stock market, investors, job creators, entrepreneurs,
30:14that they have their tax rates permanent and solidified.
30:17They know they can plan accordingly and that people have more money in their pocket to spend on their own families and their own needs and obligations.
30:24That's going to be good for everybody, and I think when it comes to this, I think all boats are going to rise again.
30:30That was the net result in the first Trump administration, the greatest economy in the history of the world,
30:33because we did thoughtful tax policy and we did real regulatory reform.
30:38Right now, as Congressman Downing said, both those things are on steroids,
30:41and you're going to see this result in spades, and people are going to see it and feel it,
30:46and by the way, they're going to feel it before the midterm election in 2026, so that's another big thing.
30:50You inserted a provision in a rule to block efforts to target Trump on tariffs,
30:57and now that you've done the same to prevent resolutions of inquiry,
31:00including this probe into Pete Hexed and the DCEP signal.
31:04Why are you using the rules of the House to effectively protect Trump rather than let the House work its way?
31:10No, we're using the rules of the House to prevent political hijinks and political stunts,
31:15and that's what the Democrats have.
31:16As I mentioned, no leader, no vision, no platform.
31:19All they have is obstruction.
31:20They're trying to target.
31:22They showed us over the last four years, the last eight years,
31:24they used lawfare, they used conspiracy theories,
31:29all these political weapons to just go after the president and make his life miserable.
31:33That's not what the American people voted for.
31:35That's not what they deserve.
31:36We can do better, so we're preventing this nonsensical waste of our time.
31:40We don't have time to waste.
31:41We've got to, as I mentioned, we've got to fix every—
31:43But as we've discussed many times in this room,
31:47the executive branch has the constitutional and appropriate legal authority
31:51to address unfair trade practices with other countries.
31:54That's exactly what the president has been doing and is doing,
31:57and the results, I think, are going to be obvious at the end of this.
32:00We have to give them the runway.
32:02This is not a separation of powers concern at all.
32:05Congress has a role to play, but so does the executive,
32:07and I think everything they've done thus far has been entirely lawful and appropriate,
32:11and that's what our policies reflect.
32:13So we're going to continue to do that,
32:15and I think the American people are going to see the result at the end,
32:17and they're going to be quite satisfied by all this.
32:19Can you give a quick timeline on reconciliation?
32:22Yeah, I'll just say this.
32:23We're sticking to our plan.
32:25We had a big six meeting yesterday with Secretary Bessett and Kevin Hassett at NEC,
32:30Senator Crapo, who's the finance chair over there,
32:34Leader Thune, I and Jason Smith, Ways and Means Chair,
32:36and we had White House folks there as well.
32:38And what we discussed was the timeline.
32:40As the Treasury Secretary Bessett has said a few times, he gave us credit for moving this so aggressively on this calendar.
32:49I'm really glad that we did because we've got to deliver this economic relief to the American people quickly.
32:53We've got to codify all this.
32:54We are on track to pass the bill out of the House, as we've said from the very beginning,
32:59and get it over to the next stage by Memorial Day.
33:02Now, I don't know how long the Senate's going to take to do their piece,
33:05but I was very encouraged after the meeting yesterday, frankly.
33:08Leader Thune and Senator Crapo are on point.
33:11The Senate Republicans have been working very hard together.
33:14We got almost a year-head start on them on this process, so that explains the sequence of events.
33:19But we're going to get it done by Memorial Day.
33:21Senate over there.
33:22They take a couple few weeks to work through that.
33:25We merge this together.
33:26We get it to the President's desk quickly for signature.
33:29Secretary Bessett said yesterday a big celebration by July 4th.
33:32I hope it happens much sooner than that.
33:34And we're going to keep pressing aggressively in the House to make sure that happens.
33:37And a debt limit included in that?
33:39Yes.