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As we make our way through the day here on Bloomberg and through this hour with myself and Kaylee, because we've got news here Kaylee. In just a couple of hours, there's going to be a vote on the House floor for a continuing resolution that appears to be the path to avoiding a government shutdown at the end of this week. They're whipping votes now, but everything we're hearing would suggest that this is actually going.
To pass something that needs to pass with two hundred and ninety votes since they aren't doing things through the usual rules process that is suspended, so you need a two thirds majority, and that means, Joe that it's going to take Democrats. Remember when we were here at the end of September and what McCarthy ended up having to do was pass a clean continuing resolution with Democratic.
Support and he lost the gavel as a result. Well, let's go round too and see if Mike Johnson can hang in there.
Longer.
Yeah, he seems to be getting the past this time, although looks like he's short about fifty Republican votes. To your point, that just might not matter when Democrats show up. But let's talk to him right now. Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Democrat from Wisconsin, is with us right now live from Capitol Hill, and Congressoman, it's good to see you. Appreciate your coming along here. Are you about to get Mike Johnson fired?
Well, you know, I didn't vote for him for speaker, so it'll be really interesting to see if he lasts longer than this vote.
Well, yeah, that's another way of me asking you if you will vote yes on this continuing Resolution.
Well, you know, I'm still working through it. I don't want to see the government shut down. I do think there's deeply flawed in areas that are of grave concern to me, like Women, Infants and Children program, the whig program, which in Wisconsin we've seen a really big uptake in the use of that, and we're going to be about a billion dollars short. And of course we aren't meeting any of our emergency funding needs for all of the
war and conflict that's going on. But I don't want the government to shut down, and it's very likely that I'm.
Going to vote for this continuing resolution.
So Congressoman, you just mentioned some of the emergency funding needs, be it Israel or Ukraine. Are Democrats losing leverage here if they vote for the CR to get those things passed?
Ultimately, Well, this CR doesn't have that funding in it. And exactly, and of course we passed the resolution earlier, which I of course didn't vote for, which was a fourteen billion dollar package for Israel only, but only with a gun to our heads to take away the funding for the Eye, to take billions away from the IRS, thus crippling our ability to catch text sheets, and so that funding isn't going anywhere.
So we're hopeful that.
Separately the Senate or you know, will send us a package, but not only funding for these wars Ukraine and Israel, but humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza desperately needed.
They're about sixty thousand people. Were told.
I don't know if there's an account from the National Park Service. In front of the Capitol, on the west front of the Capitol, I've got caught in the traffic coming in this morning. Congresswoman, because so many streets are closed. It's a pro Israel rally. I can only imagine that there are some counter protesters out there as well, But you're a leader.
Hakem.
Jeffries and the Speaker of the House are among the many dignitaries who are speaking to this impassion crowd today. Do you think that moves the ball at all on the request for funding, Well, there.
Is a willingness I think among Democrats and Republicans to support Israel, and of course people do respect the First Amendment. I think it's extremely important that we invite people and welcome people to the capital to voice their concerns of all kinds, and so unlike January sixth, I expect that this is a rally which will be basically positive, which will affirm Israel's right to exist, and even the counter protesters, if there are any, I think, are going to be respectful.
Of this right.
I don't know if that'll help or hurt, because, like I said, I think the votes are here to provide funding to Israel, but I do think that many of us want to see it coupled with efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza as well as providing funding for the Ukraine War.
Well, and clearly, Congresswoman, just the very fact that there are tens of thousands of individuals they're representing on the mall today speaks to the intensity of the moment and the passion that is still very much front and center when it comes to this conflict in particular. I just wonder though, if that's still going to remain, if the same impotence will be there as time goes on. What do you think realistically is the timeline we're looking at for passage of funding for Israel.
Well, what I'll tell you is that there's a lot of concern about tapping this war down on many sides. Even folks who support Israel and its right to defend itself or very concerned about making sure that our ally Israel really grounds itself and it struggled and is mindful of the humanitarian concerns and the Geneva conventions that revolve around how to conduct a war. You know, I am not kidding. It is very, very complicated on the war activity.
You know, I sympathize with Israeli's mission to stop Hamas, but they have to be ever mindful of the cost, because you can win the war and lose the peace, and we do want to eventually what's going to happen the day after this war?
And God willing the fighting will stop soon.
How about the story in Ukraine, Congresswoman. That seems to be a much heavier lift right now on Capitol Hill, largely because of Republican opposition to continued funding or at least funding without quote unquote accountability, which hasn't really been defined by a lot of the members who.
Are talking about it.
It's starting to look like once the cr passes that that might be the last train to leave the station. Will all of this have to wait until next year?
Well, you know, again there hasn't been.
There there There hasn't been a funding initiative for Israel. And so I think we have another kick at the cat with this, with the with the not only the Democrats of the Senate, but with Mitch McConnell as well and Republicans to send us something over. We're going to be here, you know until at least.
The middle of December, December fifteenth.
I would I would, I would think, so another vehicle can move or this supplemental funding. What we have heard from our speaker is that they wanted to stop the government from shutting down and didn't want to obscure that mission with the funding for the wars. So I'm taking him at his word that the lane would still be open for that funding and it's never too late to get money.
Well, it sounds like what you're saying, Congresswoman, is really this is something that we'll have to originate in the Senate. Given the House has passed more than fourteen billion dollars of Israel funding, but it rescinded money from the IRS, therefore making it dead on arrival in the Senate. When we think about all of these things, whether supplemental or just simple appropriation bills in terms of funding that are going to have to be reconciled between the Senate and
the House. Assuming that this Continuing Resolution passes, gets signed, the government doesn't shut down this weekend, how likely is it in your mind that it either shuts down partially on January nineteenth or February second, as you try to reconcile these.
Things, well, i'll tell you, you know, it all depends on whether or not the Freedom Cockus goes after Mike Johnson and deposes him for working with Democrats.
Continuing Resolution is definitely not go back.
Just this structure requires a super majority, so clearly Democrats would have to vote for this continuing resolution. And if that's the red line for some of the Conservatives that brought McCarthy down, then then that would be another wrinkle. It's for the life of me, it is hard to see why they we would want to go through another I mean, we're going to be anxious for two more months. It's going to be hard to stomach our Thanksgiving dinner and our Christmas dinner knowing that we've got to go
through this again. And and you know, once they passed the twelve all twelve appropriations bills December, you know, eighteenth say, and you know, and and funding is going to run out, and they.
Want us to vote on.
Some of the crazy cuts that they're probably going to be proposing in our appropriations bills.
It'll be another showdown.
So, you know, I think stopping a government shut down, you know, by Friday, is admirable, but we're just setting ourselves up for a shutdown in January. If in fact they continue down the path of not observing the deal, that then Speaker McCarthy made with the President, which you know, we you know, we gave up a billion a trillion dollar in that deal.
That was not a frivolous deal.
And were we to have stuck with that deal, I think we'd be in a much better place.
We shouldn't be here today.
So it's hard for me to check what's going to happen on January nineteenth, but I do know that today will be nothing more than a stop gap.
I'm guessing Kevin McCarthy would agree with you on that deal. Congresswoman, have you heard from Hakim Jeffreys. Is the Democratic leadership behind this cr or is he kind of telling you to vote your conscience?
What's the word from upstairs.
Yeah, he's not whipping on this at all. So we're free to vote, you know how we will. It's not the deal that we created. It's not the deal that Hakim Jeffries put together. They didn't put it together with our help and our support.
So I think that he is leaving it up up to us.
And like I said, I've been with my legislative director all afternoon working through UH some of the things that I find very disappointing. UH. And I mentioned, you know in particular the Wick funding women, infants in children. Uh and uh, you know, to me, that's very, very critical. So I may vote for the CR today, but I'll be I'll be watching and they'll need my vote.
Or want my vote in the future. So they need to.
Be mindful of the things that are important to people.
Hanry Quaar says that he's opposing this bill because of the Wick funding.
Kaylee, he might not be the only one.
It sounds like, yeah, and again to the math here.
Well, I'll tell you know, I'm I'm in a state it's governed by a democratic governor. So uh, the provisions, we may be able to negotiate our way through it. I think some of the children that are going to suffer the most come from those red states where there's a general opposition to accepting this support, you know, providing the maintenance of effort whatever. But I can see Henry
Quay are not wanting to vote for it. You know, there's a lot of children in his district, a lot of needy children, and he's in a state you know where you know, you know people you know eschew government support.
Well, Congresswoman, as we think about those who are needy and those who may be struggling with higher prices that they are facing because of inflation. Obviously, we got some better news on the inflation front today in that consumer prices did not rise as much as expected. Things are slowing down, and yet what we consistently see is that
people still don't feel good about the economy. It's reflected and polls not just in terms of their overall sentiment, but in their feelings about who's in charge here, crowds in control of the White House. What do you think your party needs to change in terms of messaging what's missing here?
Well, I tell you it's it's uh we we we we do need for some of these things to take hold in the economy.
I think it's a really good sign.
I don't think Jerome Powell and the Fed are going to raise interest rates uh anymore, uh anytime soon, So people will start to feel the impact of that and some of the investments that we have made, uh take time to seek into the economy. And so I do think that we're a year away from this election. We have made a tremendous investment uh in job creation, and I think that you know, we all saw.
The streets and roads torn up this summer.
Uh, and that that's that in addition to Jerome Poull not raising interest rates and credit becoming more available to people, I think people are going to start to feel the impact. There's a lot of effort to train people up to get them involved in brand new economy. And I do think that it's not a matter of messaging. It's a matter of being like the Missouri to show me state. I think we need to show people how they're benefiting.
Spending time with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, the Democrat from Wisconsin, serves on the Ways and Means Committee, and I'd like to ask you lastly, if I dare in our minute and a half year congresswoman, about something called revenues. We talk a lot about cuts around here, and there's a lot of talk about balancing the budget and lowering the deficit. At what point is your committee going to start raising revenues to start closing the gap?
Well, you know, from your lips to God's ears, I mean, we have tried by providing the monies to the I R S. One of the things that we discovered under our jurisdiction is that someone like Donald Trump's taxes for example, the IRS just didn't have the personnel to be able to go through a complex of.
Tax return such as Donald Trump's.
And there are many individuals who avoid taxes because they half complicated, you know, taxings. Some of these deductions are are ones to which they're entitled and others are just plain old a tax evasion.
And you know, I'm going to get a bunch of hate mail for asking you that question, just for.
Framing the question.
Congresswoman, we're not allowed to talk about it, but I do feel like at some point we're going to need to go there. I wish we had more time. Congress Woman, thank you for being with us. Let us know how you vote. Congresswoman Gwen Moore with us live from Capitol Hill. I'm Joe Matthew with Kaylee Liones. This is sound On Live from Washington only on Bloomberg.
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Fascinating Conversation earlier with Citadel's Ken Griffin, an exclusive interview you heard with Bloomberg's Shanali Bossik Kaylee. It took the better part of an hour and we were glued to it as we tend to be when he's speaking, and got to a lot of territory here as you would expect. We talked about the economy, interest rates, and then veered into politics and geopolitics as the President prepares to meet
with President Sheet tomorrow. We've got a lot to your balancing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Of course, we heard from the President himself before his departure to San Francisco where that meeting will take place tomorrow, and which President Biden said that he does not want to decouple from China. He's just seeking a normalization in relations. Specifically, he's looking at military to military communications.
That's a very high priority.
And maybe that's something that Ken Griffin would have would like to hear the President say, is we're not looking to decouple, because his warning today Joe was that that would have really serious consequences.
Well, we're not decoupling, right, were we be? We were risking be risking.
The last thing that we heard, here's what Ken Griffin said earlier today on Bloomberg.
So it's really important that we try to find common ground to build a better relationship with China on rather continuing this downward spiral of tit for tat on trade policies and otherwise.
A downward spy spiral on tit for tat trade policies, which you know, we talk a lot about the intervention that the administration has has tried to add with high tech chips trying to keep out of China. You could look to a lot of different areas, yeah, for that, And of course China is not the only economic partner.
If I can use the word that we're dealing.
With this, then yeah, it's a big one.
And Ken Griffith pointed this out that the US, he says, imports circa five hundred billion dollars of goods from China a year. That these economies are just really closely tied together. But whether or not it is diversifying or de risking, whatever it is, though, the fact remains Joe that given a lot of the tension in this relationship, the US is turning to other partners as well, trying to do
this friend shoring thing. We also sometimes hear about trying to protect national security interests, and what that means is that a lot of this is looking at supply chains elsewhere and just firming up relations with countries that aren't well.
That's absolutely right, which brings us to our conversation with the Special Envoy. The former Congressman Joe Kennedy is with us now live on Bloomberg.
You might not.
Realize he is as well, the US Special Envoy in Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs, and Congressman, it's great to see you.
Thank you for joining us.
We've really been looking forward to talking with you about this, and I know that you're recently back from a trip to Northern Ireland. You led a delegation with a couple dozen executives on that trip. Joe Biden when he made his trip to Northern Ireland earlier this year, and I think it was back in April, which I find hard to believe now, marking the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreements,
talked about the impact of diplomacy here, sustained diplomacy. I wonder what the economic answer is to that diplomacy.
So, Joe and Cayley, first off, just thanks for having me, Thanks for your interest, and I appreciate the opportunity. Being with President Biden in Belfast now back in April was an extraordinary moment because it was an opportunity to celebrate not just the people of Northern Ireland, but what partnerships can in fact do and how they can help transform communities.
Northern Ireland has come a very long way and a very short period of time when you look at that trajectory over the course of the last twenty five years and even longer candidly, and the opportunities that are there before them at the moment are quite extraordinary. And the opportunities that the United States and the two hundred and thirty businesses that are doing already American business that are doing business there, the impact that they have had across
their society is quite stunning. And so all of this I think builds in a unique moment and unique opportunities that Northern Ireland has at this moment to work alongside the United States and some of our strategic interests.
When do you think US businesses are actually going to more firmly seize that opportunity?
Though?
Where did the real investment dollars show up in a more material way?
Oh? I mean Kaylie. When we were over there just two weeks ago or so, the Controller for the State of New York announced fifty million dollars in investment further investment. He'd already put in over sixty million dollars into Northern Ireland over the course of the past several years, so he doubled down put in announced fifty million more. Coca Cola announced a twenty million dollar expansion for a bottling line in Northern Ireland, which has been one of their
key facilities, employing a couple dozen more people. But look, I think one of the biggest challenges candidly that Northern Ireland faces isn't from some of the investment opportunity. It's actually from the perception that a number of American Americans have about when you say Belfaster, you say Northern Ireland,
what comes to mind. And one of the big objectives what President Biden asked me to do was to say, hey, take some of these business leaders, walk them through downtown Belfast, walk them through the safest city of its size in the entire United Kingdom. Welcome through the happiest part of the United Kingdom. Welcome through the communities where if you have a college degree. The unplumb rate is essentially zero. Where City Group has nearly four thousand employees, PwC has
nearly four thousand employees. Let them see the enormous gains that have been made here, hard earned and hard won by the people of Northern Ireland with support from their friends and support of businesses like Liberty Mutual, which at that time was headed by a Belfast native, Ted Kelly. After the Good Friday Agreement, that was a critical investor and friend alongside some of these businesses to help spread that as it's called a peace dividend more broadly across society.
And that's what the Presidence asked me to do. But it's common and it was I think an extraordinary moment for us and our delegation to see that, sense it, and look at the opportunities provided by this new agreement and tribute to the British government and those windsor framework to actually incentivize Northern Ireland as a potential place for investment to all of Europe.
Well, it sounds like a successful trip.
Congressman, I'm guessing that you wouldn't mind taking a couple of your former colleagues on Capitol hill for a walk right now.
The level of discord that we're seeing.
I'd love to ask you about, but I wonder if it actually impacts deal making abroad, commitments from other countries when they see a legislature that sometimes lately does not function.
Joe, Look, I talked to mild colleagues there. Almost every day. It's hard, it's raw, as you saw today, and you see most days. You can sense the feeling from a number of folks of despite the best intentions of some that are really trying on both sides of the dial and across both sides of the capital that are trying to try to find ways to make the place work, that there's forces there that are really set on making sure it doesn't. And you know, democracy is hard. It's
easier to break than make work. But it does mean that we all share responsibility and trying to make this work. And you know, I think without question it makes it more difficult. That being said, you know, markets had a good day to day, and this is something that we all still need to work pretty hard to make sure that the United States, you know, politically, economically, legally, just the structural frameworks here remain sound so that we can continue to benefit from it.
Well, so you say that democracy is hard, and maybe other democracies like the one you are wor working closely with, know that and can recognize it. But those countries that aren't let in a democratic fashion may say, well, why would we want that? And I wonder if if the real issue for the US in terms of perception abroad is with some of those other countries, Like say, I don't know China as President Biden is getting said to meet washijhin Ping tomorrow.
Well, you've also seen Kaylee the And it's a good question, right, you've seen perceptions of Chinese A quarterat of recent polling of the United States has actually increased markedly over the course the past several months. And you know, I hesitate to wholly put you know, too much credit in in polling where you know, media isn't as free and open
as it is here in the United States. And when you think of the ability of government to make decisions for its people, yeah, certainly those people making decisions think that autocracies might be better. Turn around and ask some of the other folks that on the other side of those decisions how they feel about living in an authoritarian system rather than one that is open, free and responsive.
And look, we've got major structural issues in our democracy that we need to work on and we need to invest in, and that haven't gotten the attension that I think, well, candidate, I think some of us have taken for granted that we didn't need to invest it in these structures of democracy because we just figured that they were settled. Democracy
has never settled. It is continually earned, and we as a society, I don't care where you are fall in that political spectrum, have to invest in it and when you don't, there's consequences.
Well, I know that you've been busy in your own way with the Groundwork Project, helping to organize folks around the country, separate from your duties with the State Department. Here, Congressman, I wonder you and I have been talking for a long time since before you served in Congress. I wonder if you're just glad to not be in the middle of it right now, or if you'd like to come here and knock some heads together.
Joe. As you know, I've got a young family. It's been nice and some additional time with them, and candidly, when you have a chance to when I talk to my colleagues that are still sitting in office and who are working very hard to try to make the system work, but can feel, you can feel it blocked right by forces beyond their control. A couple of good friends announced their retirement this past weekend, saying, you know, it essentially
isn't worth it anymore. And while I understand that decision on a personal basis for them, I ache for our country because these positions are critically important to making the basic features of our nation work and of democracy work. And whether people understand it wholy or not, people around the world do look to the United States to be a place where government works, where people try to stand
up and do the right thing. And when you've got some of the highlights that you're seeing coming out of the capital and out of our democracy in recent days, in weeks and months, that can be harder to do, but without question, it matters. There's still good people there, and good people on both sides of the island again
on both sides of the Capitol. But this takes work, and this takes effort, and you know, for all of us, that isn't just going to happen because you want it to you got to put some muscle into it.
Yeah, so you are in communication, as you say, frequently with your colleagues who still are in Congress.
What about the.
Communication you're having in your role now you're trying to convince businesses that operate in the US to also invest in Northern Ireland. But when you're having conversations with those business leaders, what are they telling you about how they view the political environment.
So that was part of the benefit of taking this group over fifty business leaders over to Northern Ireland was for them to get a sense of what it was like over there and to see it for themselves and not just you know, read about it or experience it or candidly hear what their parents or what other people
might have thought about it. Because people transit through Dublin frequently or London frequently, but I haven't made that trip up to Belfast, or haven't gone to a border region like Newry, or haven't quite visited a city like Derry that has walls dating four centuries ago. But if you go to Derry, you'll also find out that Seagate, one of the world's leading manufacturers of hard drives, has had
a facility there for decades. When you go to Belfast and find out it's the number one destination for cybersecurity investment in all of Europe, right, they're surprised. You go to Newry and you see that it's home to a billion dollar financial services firm and first to river. There's an extraordinary story to tell. And well, you can look back on these times of the troubles and the history of Northern Ireland and say, gosh, they've got a long way to go. I kind of turn that around and say,
look how far you've come. Right, look at what the United States did in our founding. Right, We've wrote a constitution, we threw it out about a dozen years later, we wrote a new one. We still didn't recognize women as people, or anybody other than a white Protestant man at rich white Protestant man is having any sort of stature in our society. We fought a civil war and are still
wrestling with the remnants of it. And so to turn back around and say for Northern Ireland that was in some aspect of conflict for literally hundreds of years, to see that they've come this far in twenty five is
nothing short of extraordinary. They've done the hard part. There's an opportunity here for precision manufacturers, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, financial services companies that are looking for an opportunity, a landing pad to invest in Europe and gain access to Europe and gain access not just to the EU but
the UK. Northern Ireland is the only region in the world that will have unfettered market access to both those areas, and so there's a real opportunity going forward for companies that are aware of it, one who invest in it and put some time in and I think they'll reap their rewards from it.
Joe Kennedy, the former Congressman US Special Envoyd in Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs. We thank you for the long view and your perspective today. I hope your family as well.
Thank you, Joe. Great to be with you. Thanks so much for having me.
Thanks Kelly, it's great to have you with us here. I'm Joe Matthew with Kayley Lynes. This is Bloomberg Sound On. You might not be aware of what the Congressman was referring to early in that interview, but Kaylee, I don't even know what to say about some of the stuff that's happened today.
Congress has become fight club.
Yes, there's a few incidents we could talk about here, Joe one being evidently former speaker ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy elbowed one of his ousters, Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Then Burchett questioned whether he had any guts tried to chase after him. McCarthy says this was all innocent. There was no intentional butup, so that was one thing.
Yeah, Well, he says he got a shot to the kidney.
Yeah, And Matt Gates is now trying to open an ethics probe into this particular incident.
Tim Burchett's been on with us, he has in this very space before the Congressman was talking to a reporter. He says McCarthy jabbed him from behind when he was like he talked about it unseen.
And got elbowed in the back. And it kind of caught me off guard because it was a clean shot to the kidneys. And I turned back and there was Kevin and and I for a minute, I was kind of what the heck just happened? And then I, you know, I chased after him. Of course, he's a As I've stated it many times, he's a he's a bully with seventeen million dollars in a security detail.
Wow.
Okay, then he does have a lot of money, and I guess he has a security detail. We got uh, we got a response from McCarthy, yeah, and chased him down.
They had a face off after that.
McCarthy said if he hit somebody, they would know it.
Okay, So that's one episode.
Uh.
Burchette says he did catch up with him and the security detail.
Was as he always did. Dose he just denies it or blamed somebody else or something, you know, And it was just a little heated. But I just backed off because there was any I saw no reason. I wasn't gaining anything from it.
So I think we're probably done with that.
Okay.
What happened in the hearing of the Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, I don't know what to say about though. Yeah, Sean O'Brien, the head of the Teamster's Union, who is sat at this desk.
All these people have been on with us, they're real people.
Yep.
This blew up into something because I guess Sean O'Brien's been tweeting about Mark Wayne Mullen as we hear he's reading one of these.
Twits, the Tough Guy Act and the Senate hearings. You know where to find me, any place, any time, cowboy.
Okay, so this is the time. This is a place.
If you want to run your mouth, we can be too consenting adults. We can finish it here.
Okay, that's fine, perfect, you want to do it now. I'd love to do it right now? Do you stand up?
Hold stop it?
Okay? So they get up.
Everybody's out of their chaired.
Bernie Sanders the chair acted. Please can I resp hold it? What we can is going on.
I'm sorry, this is all that you said.
You'll have your time?
Can I respond?
No, you can't.
This is a hearing the American people contempt.
But Congress's I don't like rugs, and.
I don't like you because you describe yourself. Oh wait a minute, they're gonna get up again.
Time.
This is what the American people are seeing today instead of an effort to fund the government, which apparently also will happen before this day is over.
Yeah, about an hour and a half. Joe for a third.
Yeah, we'll talk about it on Bower Leader meet Kaylee and I balance the Power of Bloomberg TV five o'clock.
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