00:00The evidence is clear. Chief Justice John Roberts is an extreme political actor that has led the
00:08most partisan Supreme Court in U.S. history. Every single decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
00:15happens to benefit Republicans politically. And it is completely hypocritical because
00:21recently the U.S. Supreme Court said, oh, we can't interfere in states' elections when it's
00:28too close to the election. And they said that because had they interfered and done the right
00:33thing, it would have helped Democrats. And they said, we can't do it because it's too close to
00:36the election. And then with their recent decision in Calais, not only do they gut the Voting Rights
00:41Act, they also do it very close to the election. And they take the unprecedented step of expediting
00:48their decision specifically to interfere in state elections. So this is a radical Supreme Court
00:54that is making decisions simply to benefit Republicans. It's going to occur in passive
01:00Supreme Court reform when Democrats take control. And that will be because of the actions of extreme
01:06political actor John Roberts in this partisan Supreme Court.
01:10Nick and Michael.
01:12There's the E-15 bill coming up this afternoon. Republicans aren't looking at, I noticed that
01:16Democrats aren't necessarily either. How are you planning to vote on this?
01:20This is an issue that Republicans have created for themselves. Mike Johnson walked into every
01:28room before the last break, and he made every promise he could to every faction within the
01:33Republican conference. And so that's what we see taking place is now they include provisions
01:39in the farm bill. They got to pull things out. They got to vote on it on the side. It's
01:44just
01:44a product of the chaos. Look, E-15 can be a good policy. It can help some farmers and it
01:52can reduce
01:53emissions. This isn't the right vehicle to address that. And there are different views based generally on
02:01geography of where members reside. And so that's why on our side, we're letting members vote how they
02:09want on the issue. Michael?
02:13I want to go really quickly on the gas issue. Do you support a gas tax holiday? That's another issue
02:18that's being discussed given President Trump's recent.
02:22I don't know if we're going to be given an opportunity to vote on this, right? Speaker Johnson
02:25has not committed that. There are active conversations within the Transportation Infrastructure
02:32Committee. That's probably the venue in which it is best to address it. I think that there are
02:38always concerns with a gas tax holiday because you have the potential to hurt the budgets for the
02:45roads that need to be repaired. I'm a big believer in investing in infrastructure and repairing those
02:52roads. The gas tax is a user tax meant to go completely to fix our streets and roads. I understand
02:59that Americans are struggling and I'm willing to consider what the options are. Maybe we divert some
03:05of the tariff money that the president doesn't want to talk about into backfilling the highway
03:11trust fund if we go this route. That might be something. So it depends on the structure of how
03:16it is. But at the end of the day, what will bring relief for gas prices is if the president
03:21ends this
03:22war of choice. And it's not going to happen quickly. But that's ultimately what the president has done
03:29here is he's put another tax on the American people in addition to tariffs, in addition to taking their
03:33health care away. He has added more cost to them with this reckless war of choice.
03:40And just because you mentioned, Kurt, did Jim Davis come up to the caucus and will the caucus be going
03:45anything formally to try to... I think many of us have commented on social media on that incident.
03:55I think it is shameful, disgraceful that she, you know, allowed herself to be in a conversation
04:01with someone who has such racist views. But that's the coalition that they need to win.
04:05And so that's probably the calculus that she had.
04:09Is that a following up on redistricting? Democrats will have some opportunities after 2026
04:14to pick up new districts. Can you talk a little bit about that and in what ways that party might
04:19take advantage of those opportunities ahead of the 2028 election?
04:23One election at a time. We're focused on 2026 and the landscape that's in front of us.
04:28Vice Chair Lou and I, with Zoloft, Grant, and Nancy Pelosi in the California delegation,
04:32we did our part on the redistricting side, I think, to shine a light on the rigged elections that
04:38Texas was leading. And we have said throughout that, you know, all options should be on the table.
04:45And other states that have redistricting commissions should be prepared to have conversations
04:50with their legislature and their voters in response to what we're seeing in the South.
04:56And I think all of that is completely fair. In the meantime, though, we got to run and we got
05:00to win
05:01in 26, but we should absolutely be ready to have those conversations about what needs to be in place
05:07to ensure that there are free and fair elections and that Republicans can't rig their way
05:12to a majority for more cycles to come.
05:18I support independent redistricting commissions. I believe all 50 states should have them.
05:23But it is insanity only for blue states to have independent redistricting commissions.
05:29And that is not very good at all because it's tying the hands of blue states.
05:35And my view is, if only blue states have independent redistricting commissions,
05:39that needs to change. And the blue states need to think of other ways to do this.
05:45Are Democrats still pursuing redistricting opportunities ahead of 2026? And if so, where?
05:51Or is this fight now about winning in districts as they line out and fight in the courts?
05:57I think the landscape is very limited on blue states that we can affect who haven't had primaries
06:03or focused on the battlefield ahead. And then to have conversations about what it looks like in
06:092028. I think that there might be only one that theoretically could do it if every star aligned
06:15in Maryland, but every state. And Leader Jeffries has talked about the states specifically
06:23that we should have conversations about. But I think the field is pretty well set right now.
06:28And let's just go win some races and talk to the American people when I'm confident
06:32that when they are weighing the CNN, 30% favorable rating that the president has on the economy,
06:4040 points underwater. I mean, these are terrible, terrible numbers for them.
06:46And it's our opportunity to talk to the American people about what's at stake in November.
06:53President Trump came out this week in favor of the House passing the Senate's housing bill.
06:58What is your leadership's position on an affordable housing package? Should the House
07:02amend its own version, send it back to the Senate? Should they take up the Senate bill?
07:06Those are active conversations. French Hill and Maxine Waters are having conversations about
07:10the House passed bill, road to housing, 21st century housing. Look, I think we have continued
07:15to say that we have a housing crisis in this country. And there is more that can be done
07:20at the state and local level than there is some that can be done by us. And I think that
07:25we need
07:26to have conversations about the best pieces of each of the provisions that have come out
07:30and put those together in a package that can move. We passed with strong bipartisan support.
07:36The House side bill, the Senate bill came over, you know, 89 to 10. So I think both chambers have
07:42thoughts, obviously. It's on Republican leadership to decide whether they want this to be a bipartisan bill.
07:50And what they want to include. And we stand active and ready to work with them on that.
07:55This is an issue that deserves to be addressed. We'll see. At every opportunity, though,
08:00and this is how we feel, at every opportunity, Republicans have chosen to go full crazy, full chaos,
08:07to try to get, you know, more votes on their side. And they have turned away bipartisan attempts.
08:13And so we'll see if that holds. But those are active conversations within the House Financial Services
08:19Committee. Subscribe to One India and never miss an update. Download the One India app now.
Comments