- 8 months ago
Speaker Johnson and House Republican leaders hold their weekly press briefing.
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00:00Good morning everyone. How are you? Good morning. The sun is kind of starting to come out today,
00:24just a little bit, so keep your fingers crossed. But House Republicans have made significant
00:30progress on the one big beautiful bill. Nine out of 11 committees have passed their pieces,
00:38and the two remaining committees will be done quite soon. After our committee work,
00:44after that work is done, we will move on to the next step. But before we do, I think it's important
00:52that we not forget what is at stake for the American people if this bill doesn't pass,
00:59which I'm confident it will. And what's at stake? Think about it. What's at stake for Michiganders?
01:07They would see their taxes go up on an average of $2,400. Mothers and fathers who need the child
01:15tax credit could potentially lose that. Mom and pop shops could close, and even family farms would
01:24be affected and no longer cease to exist. If we don't pass this bill, there will be real consequences
01:32and real consequences for real people. We must pass this transformational piece of legislation,
01:40and failure is not an option. Additionally, this week, House Republicans are honoring police in
01:48National Police Week. We will vote on multiple measures that support our police and law enforcement
01:56officers. Those who bravely serve our communities in uniform deserve recognition, especially those who
02:04have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. Now, I'm curious to watch the Democrats and see
02:12what they do this week. See if they will actually join us in honoring the men and women in blue.
02:20The jury's still out. I mean, just look at last week when House Republicans visited small business
02:26for Small Business Week. What did the Democrats do? The Democrats visited the MS-13 members.
02:33Will they visit criminals this week instead of police officers during National Police Week? The jury's
02:41still out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Now, because Democrats have turned their backs
02:48on law enforcement over the past four years, let's not forget they were the party that wanted to defund
02:55defund the police. And they actually called for defunding the police. They advocated for a border crisis. They passed
03:03soft-on-crime legislation. They have put the lives of local law enforcement officers in danger. But I can assure you those days are over.
03:14With President Trump in the White House and Republicans in control of Congress, America's law enforcement officers
03:22and their families know that Republicans will always back the blue. We have their backs.
03:30And it's only right that we have theirs. They have our back. It's only right that we have theirs.
03:38Now, here to speak on that is Representative John Rutherford from Florida. He knows a little bit about law enforcement.
03:46Rutherford is a former law enforcement officer and co-chairman of the Law Enforcement Caucus. So, with that, Mr. Rutherford?
03:57Thank you, Mr. Sheriff.
03:59Thank you, Lisa. And thank all of you for being here today. I appreciate what the Republican Caucus has done to prove to our law enforcement officers
04:12over these last several days that we do have their backs. And I can tell you as a lifelong law enforcement officer
04:19and sheriff of Jacksonville for 12 years, I know all too well about the service and sacrifice our nation's brave law enforcement officers make
04:29every day and the sacrifice of their loved ones. Never forget that. Anyone who's put on a badge and answered the call of duty
04:38knows the dangers that may await. They know that going in. Sadly, that is the reality officers and their families accept each time they put their lives in harm's way to protect others.
04:53Putting on a badge has become increasingly more dangerous. In 2024, 148 officers tragically lost their lives in the line of duty.
05:0549 of those were shot in ambush-style attacks and 18 resulted in deaths. Eight officers were killed in Florida alone, my state. The fifth highest number of officer deaths per state.
05:21We must do more to protect those who protect us. But it's also very important that when we ask them to put their lives in jeopardy, to step into that breach,
05:32that they know that this Congress has their back. And they know that now. And this means ensuring that they have the resources needed to apprehend dangerous criminals, keep officers safe, and increase retention and recruitment so that these officers have the tools that they need to be safe on the street.
05:54I'm honored to stand here today. I'm honored to stand here today. I'm honored to stand here today to call on all Americans to back our offices.
06:01National Memorial Weeks, National Memorial Weeks. I'm always reminded of a talk that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said.
06:11They said the purpose of life is not to be happy. It's to be useful. It's to be honorable. It's to be compassionate. It's to have lived well and made some difference with your life.
06:30I can tell you all of those officers whose names are inscribed on the wall at the National Memorial. They all live well.
06:42And I thank this conference. I particularly thank the Speaker for going to the Memorial this morning and laying wreaths with several officers from my jurisdiction that came up and others from Minnesota.
06:58And I really appreciate you having me. And thank you very much.
07:05Lies, deception, fear-mongering. These are the pillars of House Democrat strategy to try and stop us from delivering on President Trump's America First agenda.
07:26The mainstream media may let them get away with their annex, but we're here today to correct the record.
07:33So let's start with the Democrats' absurd claim that our reconciliation bill would cut Medicaid for vulnerable Americans. That's false.
07:43In stark contrast, Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee have laid out a clear path to strengthen, secure, and sustain the program for those who need it the most, such as mothers, children, people with disabilities, and the elder.
07:59Democrats also say SNAP benefits will be cut for Americans who need them.
08:04Another lie. The House Agriculture Committee's piece of the reconciliation bill closes loopholes within SNAP, like the one that allowed for a retired millionaire in my congressional district in my home state of Minnesota to receive thousands of dollars in food stamps from SNAP back in 2016.
08:25But the Democrats are not content to keep their lies narrowed to these programs.
08:32They also say Republicans are prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy. The actual truth? Our bill's extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would deliver the biggest relief to working-class families and small businesses in a generation.
08:50Let's be clear. These lies only harm Americans that Democrats claim they're trying to protect.
08:57But we're not going to let them get away with the lies.
08:59House Republicans are hard at work getting our reconciliation bill to the finish line.
09:04The Ways and Means Committee that advanced their title earlier this morning, and the Ag and Energy and Commerce Committees will do the same later today.
09:13These three committees worked through the night to deliver on the America First agenda that 77 million Americans voted for last November.
09:22Our one big, beautiful bill will restore the American Dream and create opportunities like never before.
09:29And no Democrat lie can change that.
09:32With that, Leader Scooties.
09:38Well, I'm proud to join my colleagues in celebrating National Law Enforcement Week, bringing a number of bills to the floor to give better protections to our men and women in law enforcement and just continue to remind those brave heroes that we have their back.
09:56And like Sheriff Rutherford and so many others in law enforcement, they now serve in Congress.
10:02Pete Stauber, who was a cop on the beat I room with.
10:07You know the kind of heroes that they are.
10:10And we hear about heroes a lot.
10:13You sometimes hear stories about heroes in law enforcement.
10:18I get to walk with one of those heroes every day.
10:22And I'm going to embarrass him, and he's going to be upset with me, but he happens to be with me this morning.
10:27And that's David Bailey.
10:28You want to meet a real-life American hero?
10:30It's that man right there.
10:32And I wouldn't be here today, and probably about a dozen other members of Congress wouldn't be here today if not for his bravery that I got to experience firsthand.
10:41I didn't get to see it all, but I heard it all.
10:44Over a hundred rounds of gunfire when a gunman came out on the ball field and tried to kill all of us.
10:50And the only reason we're alive today is because he put himself between us and the gunfire, risked his life, got hit during the shootout.
11:00And the only reason we're alive and he's not is because of the bravery of David Bailey and Crystal Breider.
11:06And while we hear about heroes every now and then, when you actually get to see one and walk around with one,
11:13and he came back to work when he got out of the hospital for his treatment, he wanted to go back to work because he loves what he does.
11:21He cares about his training.
11:23It's not talked about a lot because many men and women in law enforcement might never have to use their revolver.
11:30And hopefully they don't.
11:32And they don't want to.
11:34But they go to training every day in case they have to.
11:37So they're ready to risk their lives to protect us and our communities.
11:41And that's what David did.
11:43The reason that we're all here today, including him, is because he took his training so seriously.
11:51In the days where you could have just phoned it in, he said, you know what?
11:55If I'm ever called on to be ready, I want to be prepared to do the job.
11:59And we know there's so many brave men and women just like David, but I got to see him and experience it.
12:06And I'm here because of him.
12:07And I'm always going to pay tribute to the great heroism of what law enforcement represents.
12:14And so I hope we all remember that.
12:16It's not just a talking point.
12:18It's not just stories that we hear about.
12:21I got to experience it, and a number of my colleagues would tell you the exact same thing.
12:26We also, of course, are moving through the reconciliation bill and finishing it up this week.
12:32This is incredibly important work.
12:34We're doing what a lot of people said couldn't be done.
12:37And we're doing it because families are relying on us to get this done.
12:41We've had many meetings with President Trump, including the last one with the Speaker and the Chairman of Ways and Means Committee,
12:49Smith, Chairman of Energy and Commerce Committee,
12:52Guthrie, last week in the Oval Office to finalize some of the final pieces of this bill.
12:57A lot of work has gone into getting 11 committees ready to complete all of their work today, by the end of today.
13:04Think about that.
13:0511 committees.
13:06When we did this in 2017, which was an important bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to get economic growth,
13:12to get our economy moving again, to create jobs, to put more money in the paychecks of workers.
13:17There were only two committees involved in that back in 2017.
13:20There's 11 involved this time.
13:23And each one of them has hit their mark, and by the end of today, all of them will have exceeded the things that they were asked by us to do.
13:31And they will be delivering a great product for all members of Congress to vote on.
13:36Now, we all know not all members of Congress will vote for that bill.
13:40But everybody who casts a no vote is going to have some tough questions to answer back home.
13:46Why would you vote against tax relief for working families?
13:50You can lie all day long, as Luke pointed out, about the rich and the billionaires.
13:55The rich and the billionaires are always going to figure out how to get through whatever the tax code looks like.
14:01You know who can't figure out every single component of it, especially if a tax goes up on you?
14:07It's the lower- and middle-income families of America who have been struggling.
14:12We were losing our middle class before 2017 when we finally lowered rates for those hard-working families.
14:19And we saw the benefits primarily to lower- and middle-income families.
14:24And they would be the ones hit the hardest if this bill were not to pass.
14:28Luckily, we're going to come together and figure it out as we have every step of the way to get this done for the American people,
14:34because failure is not an option. We will get our economy moving again.
14:38We will give President Trump the resources he needs to keep our borders secure now that he has secured it.
14:44He needs additional tools for our Border Patrol agents.
14:48We're going to make America energy-independent again. It's in this bill.
14:53We're going to remove the threat of a debt crisis in this bill.
14:57So many other important things. We're getting people back to work in this bill.
15:02It's an important piece of legislation, but I want to commend all the committees, all 11 committees,
15:08who have worked hours and hours tirelessly to get their work done,
15:12starting with the leadership of President Trump, making sure that every step of the way,
15:17when there were questions, when there were final decisions that had to be made,
15:21he was always one phone call away, and he'll continue to be.
15:24This process isn't over. We're just getting close to maybe half-time.
15:29When we pass this bill next week through the House and go to the Senate, they'll do their work.
15:33But we will get this bill to President Trump's desk before the July 4th deadline that the White House has asked for.
15:42And the reason that we've been able to hit all of these marks is because in every meeting, and I've been in all these meetings,
15:50the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has been about as patient of a man as I've seen, listening to our members.
15:58And believe me, you know this, we have members that have a lot of different points of view,
16:03have a lot of different views on how the bill should be put together,
16:08and they are not ashamed to express those views, but at the end of the day, we've all got to come together.
16:13And he has brought our members together on every tough issue, and there are a lot of tough issues.
16:18There might be one remaining to solve, but we've gotten through every one of them
16:22because he's had the patience of Job and continues to lead us the right direction for those families who are counting on us.
16:30And that's the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
16:35Well, thank you all for being here.
16:36There's a lot going on, and we will update you on and have been this morning already.
16:41We're grateful for the opportunity to do that.
16:43We're really grateful that it's National Police Week.
16:45Republicans look forward to this. We really, truly do.
16:48And we've been welcoming families of fallen officers and law enforcement officers from around the country all week.
16:54We had a candlelight vigil last night, or a couple of those events last night that we participated in.
17:00You can't give honor where honor is due enough, especially around this subject.
17:05And people put their lives on the line every single day.
17:08The numbers are staggering.
17:09After the candlelight vigil last night we went, as Sheriff Rutherford mentioned,
17:14we went to the National Law Enforcement Memorial this morning, and it was misty, and the weather was sort of appropriate.
17:21Because when you walk that place and you see the names of more than 24,000 officers whose names are etched into the stone there,
17:29it really moves you.
17:30We lost 345 fallen heroes this year alone at the etched into the memorial.
17:36So there were many officers out there, and just paying their respects, and we placed rates at some small token.
17:41But, look, I come from a first responder family, and I know that sacrifice.
17:46I grew up with a fire and police training academy in my hometown of Shrewport, Louisiana, because my dad was a training officer.
17:51He was on the fire side of it, and he also worked the line.
17:54When I was 12 years old, he got burned in an explosion on the job, 80% of his body, 33% burns.
17:59He had a 5% chance to live, 5%.
18:02He came back miraculously and survived, but he was terribly disabled for the rest of his life.
18:06And his co-captain died in that fire on the hazmat team.
18:10And I watched the sorrow that his family, his young family went through, the children he left behind, his spouse, his wife.
18:17And I learned that at a young age, the profound sacrifice that people make.
18:22And we have to keep that in perspective.
18:23We have to stand behind those who are willing to do that for all the rest of us.
18:27And the House Republicans will stand with law enforcement.
18:30We definitely do have their back in every way, and we're glad to show it.
18:33So thank you for your service.
18:35Thank you for your service, David, and everybody who does that.
18:37My Capitol Police team, my security team, I spend more time with them than I spend with my family and friends and everybody.
18:44And they've become like family to us, and they do a heroic job.
18:48So we're so grateful.
18:49I can't say it enough.
18:50They deserve our gratitude and they deserve our respect.
18:54And I wish all of our House Democrats are free to that.
18:57They show with their actions that they don't, you know.
18:59And we've got to talk about what happened in New Jersey.
19:02On Friday, as you all know, three Democrat members of Congress got into a physical altercation with our ISIS.
19:08I mean, outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey, what a spectacle that was.
19:13What a horrible, what a horrible display for our children to see, right?
19:18Amid a long list of shameful and embarrassing episodes this year, that altercation, I think it takes the cake.
19:23I think it's a new look for congressional Democrats.
19:25Instead of condemning the action, of course, the Democrat leadership in the House sent out a statement of support.
19:31My friend Hakeem Jeffries said, quote, we will never bend the knee.
19:34To bend the knee to what, Hakeem?
19:36To ICE?
19:37Come on.
19:38The reason the Democrats were even at the detention facility is equally concerning.
19:44The purpose was.
19:45They were there demanding to shut down the detention facility.
19:48Now look.
19:49Here's who's housed in the detention facility.
19:51Violent gang members, rapists and murderers.
19:54They want to shut it down.
19:55We already know that Democrats support open borders.
19:57They support MS-13 gang members.
19:58They go and visit them in jail.
20:00They want to allow illegals to vote.
20:02But this really is, this is a new, this is a new vote.
20:06Republicans want to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens.
20:09Democrats want to enter the jails.
20:11Could you have a stronger contrast than that, right there?
20:14We don't need less detention beds and facilities.
20:16We need much more.
20:18And that behavior is just unacceptable.
20:20We're grateful to U.S. Attorney Alina Haba in New Jersey.
20:23She's opened an investigation into this matter.
20:25And that legal process will play out.
20:27We're having conversations.
20:28We had them this morning in the House Republican conference meeting this morning
20:32about appropriate action that we need to take here to address that inappropriate behavior.
20:36The wildly inappropriate behavior.
20:38And we will do that.
20:41Let me just talk about reconciliation real quick.
20:43This is, the bill's coming together as you've heard.
20:45The last three committees are reporting out today.
20:48Everybody in this room, I know, gets fixated on a few final details about all this.
20:53But I think it's important to just state one more time what we're achieving through reconciliation.
20:57This will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation ever passed by the United States Congress.
21:01It is large.
21:02It is comprehensive.
21:03And it deals with reconciling the budget in a way that will be fiscally responsible.
21:08We're going to slash taxes, including on tips, overtime, social security for seniors and job creators.
21:14Restore American energy dominance, as you've heard.
21:16Secure our border.
21:17And deport illegal aliens.
21:18We're going to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
21:21Return to peace through strength.
21:23And reduce spending all at the same time.
21:26And I put reconciliation on an aggressive time table back in January.
21:30I said that we would try to do this as quickly as possible.
21:33We're still on target to hit that Memorial Day deadline, which people balked at when we first said it.
21:38The American people are counting on us to get this done.
21:40And get it done quickly.
21:41And we are on target to do it.
21:43President Biden left virtually every area of public policy in disrepair.
21:47And it is incumbent upon Congress to fix it and pass laws that cannot be easily undone or overwritten.
21:53We're working around the clock to build that consensus, to get 218 votes, and deliver on President Trump's first agenda so the American people can really begin to feel relief.
22:03And as we're working to get this done, House Democrats are working overtime to deceive the American people about this.
22:09We've discussed it already this morning.
22:11But they're not talking about what the bill actually does.
22:14They're using talking points that are pretty stale.
22:16They're not afraid to lie about what's in it, and we're not afraid to tell the truth about what the Democrats are doing.
22:22They've already been forced to take down their advertisements because they were filled with falsehoods about what the bill supposedly was going to have in it.
22:28You probably saw last week.
22:29They had it again.
22:30They released a CBO report, so-called, that claims that our legislation cuts many millions of Americans out of Medicaid.
22:37It's obviously demonstrably false.
22:40Other outlets have reported on this.
22:42They included policies that are not even in the legislation.
22:46How could they have done that?
22:47Because they released a report before the bill text was issued.
22:50And most of the media ran with that.
22:53And I'm just going to say this to my friends in the media, on the Hill Press Corps in particular.
22:57If you allow Democrats to make these intentionally false claims without pushback, then you're aiding and abetting in the spread of misinformation.
23:08I'm stating the obvious.
23:09The job is to get the facts out there, so we hope you will.
23:12We said repeatedly, we are protecting Medicaid for the people who need and deserve it.
23:16This program is an essential lifeline for our most vulnerable Americans, pregnant women, single mothers, low-income seniors, the disabled.
23:23That's who Medicaid is intended to be for, and that's who we're protecting.
23:27While we're eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse to improve Medicaid.
23:31These are reforms to restore and preserve the system so that it doesn't collapse on itself.
23:37That means ensuring illegal aliens don't get coverage meant for Americans they need.
23:42It means implementing work requirements to ensure that adults who can work but refuse to cannot keep cheating the system.
23:47We're going to continue to call this out, and we're going to put the facts out there, and the people are going to do it better than themselves.
23:52That will take a few questions.
23:53If the President were to accept an airplane from the Qatari government, should Congress have approval over that kind of gift?
24:05Look, I've been a little busy on reconciliations.
24:08I'm not following all the twists and turns of the tarjet, I've certainly heard about it.
24:14My understanding is it's not a personal gift that the President would give to the United States, and other nations give us gifts out of time.
24:21But I'm going to leave it to the administration and they know much more about the details of that.
24:24It's not my lane.
24:26Mr. Speaker, you are very critical of President Biden and his family's foreign business dealings.
24:31You supported an impeachment inquiry as a result of it.
24:34Are you equally concerned about President Trump's family's business dealings, especially given the fact that he is in a region now where his family has billions of dollars of investments in Doha and Saudi Arabia,
24:44and the fact that he has a crypto business now where he's auctioned off access to the White House for the highest bidder in his meme coin?
24:51Look, there are authorities that police executive branch ethics rules.
24:56I'm not an expert in that.
24:57My expertise is here in the House, okay?
24:59I'll say that the reason that many people refer to the Bidens as the Biden crime family is because they were doing all this stuff behind curtains but in the back rooms.
25:08They were trying to conceal it and they repeatedly lied about it and they set up shell companies and the family was all engaged and getting all on the dole.
25:15Whatever that President Trump is doing is out in the open. They're not trying to conceal it.
25:20Mr. Speaker, the investment in the meme coin, those folks are not transparent. We do not know who those people are that have invested in the meme coin.
25:29I don't know. I can just tell you that President Trump has had nothing to hide. He's very upfront about it and there are people who watch all the ethics of that.
25:38But, I mean, I've got to be concerned with running the House of Representatives.
25:41Is it Congressional's oversight, though? That's the Congressional responsibility, is it not?
25:45Congress has oversight responsibility, but I think, so far as I know, the ethics are all being followed. So, yes, sir.
25:51Mr. Speaker, can you flesh out the possible discipline that these members, the Democrats, could face for what happened in New Jersey?
25:59Well, look, there's three possible disciplinary actions in Congress for the House to pick. You can censure a member, and that probably does seem appropriate here. You can keep them off committees. That's a new tradition, begun by the Democrats in recent years.
26:14And you can expel someone from Congress. Now, expulsion requires a two-thirds vote. That's not likely, because the margins are small on both sides. But, you know, we're looking at what is appropriate.
26:25Look, I think it's pretty clear that the law was all right. You might have noticed the Wisconsin judge that was trying to conceal the illegal alien that was going to be apprehended by ICE, a federal grand jury indicted the judge.
26:38I think that was late yesterday. And I'm told that she'll be brought up on, maybe, facing potentially six years in jail and $350,000 in fines because she obstructed the proceedings, obstructed justice, and was engaged in other activities.
26:53So, look, what these House Democrats did is in that same vein of what the judge is being indicted for. So I think there's some legal ramifications to play out here, and we'll see how it is.
27:05Does that mean expulsion on the table?
27:06We're talking through all the possibilities. Yes, ma'am.
27:10Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So a group of your colleagues are having bipartisan talks about a potential Congressional stock ban.
27:18I wanted to see where you are on that, you know, if that's going to move ahead. I know that they're working to get something that's going to have broad consensus.
27:24Yeah, let me tell you my honest opinion. I mean, I'm in favor of that, because I don't think we should have any appearance of every Friday.
27:30Okay? But the other side of it, some people say, well, look, you know, the salary of Congress has been frozen since 2009.
27:37You know, when you adjust for inflation, a member of Congress today is making 31% less than they made in that year.
27:43It goes down every year. And over time, if you stay on this trajectory, you're going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress.
27:53I mean, people just make a reasonable decision as a family on whether or not they can come and watch the new residents here or residents at home and do all the things that are required.
28:02So the counterargument is, and I have some sympathy, look, at least let them, like, engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to, you know, take care of their family.
28:13But on balance, my view is we probably should do that, because I think it's been abused in the past, and I think, sadly, a few bad actors discolored for everyone.
28:23And, look, we have no tolerance for anything even resembling insider trading or any of this kind of advantage that anybody could take.
28:30Zero tolerance for it. And we'll stand without ourselves. So that's why I'm in favor of the policy, but I understand people that have misgivings about that.
28:38So we'll see what happens.
28:40Last question.
28:41What's the latest on SALT? Do you have a new number that would break the deadlock?
28:44I'm not telling you that.
28:47No, but let me say this on SALT. Look, we have the people of very deep – everybody's in good faith. We're working through it. We've worked through it.
28:56I mean, I was working on it up to about 1.30 last night, okay? We're getting closer, but there are basically two different factors.
29:04In fact, there's red states and blue state folks, right? We've got more red state folks in our conference, and they have concerns about it.
29:10We have blue state people who have realities they've got to deal with at home, and they need some relief for their constituents.
29:15So I am trying to be sort of the neutral empire in the negotiation and local census, so I won't come out here and handicap it and tell you numbers and all that.
29:22But I will tell you, I'm absolutely confident we're going to be able to work out a compromise that everybody can live with.
29:27Look, when you have a bill this big, with this many pieces and this many components and this complex and comprehensive, virtually no one's going to be 100% satisfied with every piece of the bill.
29:38It's just not possible. Everybody's having to give a little, and they're willing to do that because they know the stakes are so high, as my leaders here have articulated.
29:45So, we'll get there. We're going to get this done delivered from the American people and our main is confident today as I was going to start this process.
29:51So, thanks so much.
29:53We'll cut Medicaid.
29:54We're not cutting Medicaid.
29:56Stop buying Medicaid.
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