Sound On: GOP Biden Investigations, Rail Shutdown Threat

and perspective from DC's top names. I would not say we're out of the woods yet, but I am cautiously optimistic about this week being off to a good start. This has to be boring, boring, boring for these kids to standing up here. You're allowed to do anyone, including ghost till a pump Bloomberg Sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Republicans will take control of the House, we know that, but Kevin McCarthy has yet to seal

the speakership. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics, as the new majority in the House selects leaders and crafts and agenda, along with a lot of investigations, were joined by a member of the Caucus tonight, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Republican from South Carolina, just reelected with a lot to say later new calls on Congress to stop a possible rail strike from happening just in time for Christmas. We'll have the latest with Art Wheaton of Cornell University School

of Industrial and Labor Relations. Figure out the sticking points here analysis from our panel Gene Chanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributor and Democratic analysts, along with Republican strategist Lester Months and from b GR Group. There was a breaker late today news from the Supreme Court that we should hit right off the top, clearing the way for a House committee. This is the Ways and Means Committee to get six

years of Donald Trump's tax returns. Pretty interesting here, without explanation or any public dissents, the Court rejecting the former president's bid to block the I R S from turning over the documents. This goes back a couple of years now. House Ways Means, of course, pressed with why do you need these tax returns? They say it's in the name of legislation, which it needs to be in this case

for a Congressional committee. I have some craft legislation on there's presidential documents and accountability or something along those lines of lawyer representing the former president of Supreme Court did

not immediately respond to emails requesting comment. But the timing here is important, of course, as the Republican majority prepares to take hold, the Trump legal team was asking that these remains sealed until the next Congress begins, and of course they wouldn't go very far at that point with a Republican led House Ways and Means Committee. We'll be talking about this with our panel. Genie Schanzana was with us today along with Lester Monthson of b g R Group,

formerly a staff director the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As we get into some geopolitics here as well, and we're going to connect shortly with Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Republican from South Carolina, who joins us here on the verge the threshold of this new majority taking hold. That is a majority, of course, uh, that is promising some pretty heavy duty

investigations into the Biden administration. And we heard about this from Representative James Comer, the Republican from Kentucky, the incoming House Oversight Committee chair. He shared a stage with Representative Mace, who's going to be again joining us in just a moment. Listened to the way he framed the plans for this committee starting in January. The Biden families business dealings implicate a wide range of criminality, from human trafficking to potential

violations of the Constitution. In Congress, this committee will evaluate the status of Joe Biden's relationship with his family's foreign partners and whether he is a president who has compromised or swayed by foreign dollars and influence. I want to be clear, this is an investigation of Joe Biden, and

that's where the committee will focus. In this next carvers pretty tough stuff, and of course Kevin McCarthy has his own plans as well, and he's gone down to the border, which we're hearing about today from both sides of the aisle, back to the southern border in the White House had plenty to say about that during the briefing today. We compare notes with Lester Months and again principle at government relations from b GR group, who is with us on

Bloomberg sound on Lester, thanks for being here. Is as this new majority in the House comes together, how much of a third rail? Will these investigations be? You know, I was I was how staffer when the Republicans took over in nine five and launched about a dozen investigations into the Clinton administration. Some of them certainly were merited,

some of them may be a little left. So the net effect of them was pretty marginal in terms of learning much about the clint administration and having any kind of salutory impact on public policy. So I would I think the Republicans here should should move with caution and a little bit of humility. I'm not saying there isn't something to look at. They should be looking at things that concern them. But I wouldn't put a lot of I wouldn't put a lot of my chips in this basket.

And you know, interestingly, the line you here as well, we can walk and shoot gun at the same time. Oversight is part of the the responsibility and duty here of the congressional branch, especially the House. We we planned to do our duty. Yeah, but you get into a fever pretty quickly, as as folks may have noticed in politics in our country in the last few years, and you tend to only be able to focus on a

certain number of things. I think far better for Congressional Republicans to offer an alternative vision on policy, an approach than the Biden administration. The Bid administrations had trouble on a number of key issues, crime, the border, the economy. Goodness, gracious, I would I would be much more optimistic about about an agenda that included positive suggestions on how to solve these really deep problems we have in our society instead of focusing on this kind of gotcha hearings and that

kind of thing. Right laster months and is half of our panel today, along with Genie Schanzano of course, Bloomberg Politics contributor and Democratic analyst. Uh, we can't. They don't. They can't find Nancy May. So that's funny. They don't know where they don't know where she is. I guess the majority has not taken effect yet, Genie, your thought on the investigations. You know, we start talking about hunter

Biden's laptop. Now, where does that leave a very slim majority when it comes time for reelection because I'm assuming these are going to be lengthy, you know, Benghazi style hearings, and we may not have Genie either, you know, I tell you Lester it's just you and me, Pal, we should get a beer here and get this done, right, I'm for it. Yeah, So you know, you consider, you consider the status of things, and Democrats don't have a lot of time to get anything done in the lame duck.

What's important at this point? Is it same sex marriage? Or has that been punted into the new year? Uh? Same sex marriage? You know it is a fraud issue. Um that it's going to help their base. I'm not sure it's gonna set them up for success down the road and taken back the House and and defending the White House in twenty four. I think better for the

Democrats to focus on the economy. This is this is their big weak spot, on addressing and then on buttressing the Biden administration's great success in Ukraine and making sure the president has the resources he needs to continue that policy and to and to be able to help the Ukrainians prevail over the Russian So those are the two things I'd be focusing on if I were the outgoing

Democratic majority. Interesting that, and how difficult does the debate get to be around Ukrainian funding, Say, come January, when you have members of the Republican Caucus and I realized it's at this point a fairly small number. But the Marjorie Keyler, Greens and mac Gates as they're saying not one more dollar, this is a refrain, And of course, you know Kevin McCarthy said no more blank checks. Is that just tough talk right now to try to sound

like you're fiscally responsible or does that actually change policy? Well, I suspect some members are going to vote that way. They're not going to vote for any more money. I think there are a small minority. I don't think they're gonna win, but there is a there's kind of an existential question here for the new House Republican leadership, which is are you going to be willing to work with Democrats get Democratic votes to approve something that you're in

favor of. I think Kevin McCarthy, at the end of the day, wants to provide assistance to the Cranings in a way that will help them win. Is he gonna be is he gonna Is he gonna be able to work with Democrats to get those votes to get that achieved without undermining his leadership role in the Republican Conference. That's a big question. I'm sure it is he has to look like he got something to the right or their strings attached to that money, something that maybe we

haven't heard about yet. Well, I think there'll be a lot of talk about oversight and making sure the money is well spent. And that's good, that's fine, that should be done. We actually have a lot of mechanisms in place that make sure those things happen. I think I think taxpayers should be reassured that money that goes to the State Department and our other aid agencies actually pretty well spent and achieves the goals that we wanted to achieve.

But talking about that is a good thing. And reassuring the American people that we're not going to we're not just doing this on a lark, and we're making sure the money is doing the right thing. That's that's important for politicians to be engaged in. I think it's I think it's a fair thing to talk about. Is it silly to try to force a conversation about the that ceiling or is that that's just Kevin McCarthy most likely it's problem to own next year. Well, I think it's

also President Biden's problem to own. Uh, this is this is going to force a negotiation between the two parties to get to a compromise on some key issues. I don't know. We don't think anyone knows what they are yet. Maybe it's the budget, Maybe it's something else that's not so bad. I know our friends on Wall Street and at our Bird Faculty club tend to get upset about this.

But if it's if it's something that drives the two parties together to kind of force them to come to a compromise, maybe that's not so bad, Which begs the big question here does does it does a divided Congress force cooperation or encourage division? Well, we're gonna find out, aren't we. I think I think what we're gonna We're gonna see both. We're gonna see the parties fighting over uh, you know, the Hunter Biden laptop and other topics that

aren't so important to normal Americans. But then they're also going to be agreeing on on things that are kind of below the radar and don't get attention from from Bloomberg and other sources. Necessarily, it's not that controversial, whether it's entitlement spending or basic basic programs that everyone kind of believes in. There's you know, like the stuff we all kind of agree on. Is that five we're fighting on that that gets the news. Yeah, we hate to be part. We try to be as wonky as we

can here. I think you know that Lester and would be a part of the project. That's why you're here. Of course. Hey, Lester and I got our own show. This is great. Stay with us on sound On coming up, will fold in Jeanie Schanzano I promised this time. Lester months and stays around and we explore the breaker today from the Supreme Court clearing the way for six years of Donald Trump's tax returns to go to Richie Neil's House Ways and Means Committee. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg.

This is Bloomberg. So no with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. It's hard not to just picture Congressman Richard Neil, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, holding six years of Donald Trump's tax returns in his hands with a laughter that could be heard on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. But is that real? Is that actually possible? After the Supreme Court today cleared the way for the committee to get six years of Donald Trump's tax returns.

Kevin Brady gets the same stuff right without explanation, without the scent. And this is something that of course comes as we were just discussing with Lester, what a month and change ahead of the new Republican majority taking hold of Trump lawyer legal team was asking for January just

to keep this as quiet as possible. We have the full panel here, I'm told Jeannie Schanzano is with US Bloomberg Politics contributor Democratic Candleston Lester months and here as well from b g R Group Republican strategist a genie. Were you as surprised as anybody to hear this? And how come you don't believe this goes anywhere? Well, you know, I was struck by by the counting of the days twenty nine days since the committee sought these tax returns

into finally get them. And somebody said it was almost as long as the Civil War. Um. So if it seems long time, it really is um. And of course this could be overturned, but it's unlikely, and I think it's it's you know, noteworthy that this decision was made with no dissent that said, of course the we are on a calendar. Um, we have a calendar issue. We're in a lame duck and so they have a limited time.

And of course Republicans get these as well. So I'm not sure how far this will go, except it is a victory for of three years, for this committee that's long been seeking things, and they'll at least get a glimpse. And there as many people, myself included, who believe the public has a right to have to have this and for nation, and it is finally in the hands of the people's representatives in Congress. So that's a good thing. By the way, I didn't talk to Genie before this,

and I don't know. I did not know that Genie believed this was going nowhere. Is it going nowhere? No, you know, I wouldn't say. I wouldn't say we know yet if it's going nowhere, but I would say it is a significant win. And and by the way, when when you and Lester were chatting, I was shouting into their radio, enjoying your conversation, saying brilliant things, but you couldn't hear me. So yeah, that happens a lot. Yeah, when I'm after, how come we've seen this headline or

not with the Supreme Court, of course. But you hear about Donald Trump's tax returns and you say, Okay, wake me up when something happens. It's the holy grail for Democrats. My goodness, They're finally going to reach the promised Land. Uh. I confess some cynicism here. I think this is a purely political move to get the president's tax returns, not that they won't be interesting, and that that they won't say something about his ways of doing business. You don't

about presidential document accountability. I'm guessing yeah, I guessing we're not going to see a big bill come out of this that changes our laws. So I think it's and with our upside down politics, this may actually work to the democrats disadvantage. I don't know. Donald Trump likes attention. This is going to be more attentions, gonna be another way for him to talk. Republicans are learning that him

being out front is not great for the party. Democrats want to keep pushing them out there because he's good for them. So this whole thing is upside stuff in his tax returns though, right, I mean, if they got these documents and leaked them, Uh, my goodness, that would be the best read in town. But but what's the expectation game. Everyone knows he's basically a con artist, and so when we when we see the tax terms and he's revealed to be a connie, that's kind of what

I thought anyway. So, although it would be something to be running for president, Genie and to be to be proven to have never paid or to no longer pay taxes, which is what the allegation was, that's right, And you know, and and he not only is a former president, but he's a current contender for the Republican nomination for president, and so that does matter. And you know, I do agree with what you know you are saying and where Lester was saying that, you know, it's unlikely we see

big legislation out of this. But one thing I think, at least I wish we would have a conversation about in this country would be is it time to require major party presidential candidates to release tax documents and also, by the way, health records. There are privacy issues, for sure, but these people represent us and we may have a right to this information. I would at least like to hear a robust conversation about that. In Congress, but I

don't expect we're going to get that either. Well, how come wouldn't that be good politics, whether it's in the lame duck or in the new Congress? Lester, Uh, you know, in a way, I think that I agree with Genie. I think that'd be a great idea. Congress ought to be put in pressure on the president. Generally speaking, let's try to hamm them in. Let's give the you know, the people's you know, the people's part of our government, the people's branch, a little more authority, a little more

ability to out maneuver the president. I'm kind of in favor of that as an old apt from Capitol Hill. So yeah, let's let's lay on some requirements for the chief executive line up. Donald Trump lawyers argue the House panel lacked a legitimate legislative purpose. Genie, that's actually what needs to be shown here. Right, If you're the Ways and Means Committee and you go to court, that's the only grounds you have, the only ground you have to

stand on. Uh. I can't imagine this news conference if this, if these documents are delivered, what is Chairman Richard Neil tell America. You know, I think he's going to tell America the reason why it was so important and why they fought for, you know, three long years plus days as long as the Civil War to get these and and I hope he says it has less to do with Donald Trump specifically than it does to do with the work of this body, which is oversight and legislation

in the interest of the American public. And of course the Lame Duck won't be able to do that. We'll see if it's picked up in the Republican Congress. But I hope that's what he says and makes it not personal to Trump but in our interest as the people's body. Of course, if there's nothing in there and he opens it up, it looks like Carldo Rivera at al Capone's grave. Our panel stays with us for the hour, Jeannie Chanzano and Lester Months and with us. I'm Joe Matthew from Washington.

This is sound on, this is Bloomberg. I'll tell you what. If there is a rail strike, the blame game in Washington will be fierce. I say that as several powerful industry groups and you can read about this on the terminal of course, or urging Congress to step in and prevent this strike. This is the same one we were talking about August September now just in time. It's like, you know, the sequel to the Grinch kind of a thing.

Although these workers have very legitimate concerns, we are still talking about it, and not only are they asking Congress to get involved, there's a lot of pressure on the White House to do more here and in today's briefing, a lot of questions about, well, how involved are you, Where's Marty Walsh? How about the president? Here's Press Secretary Karine John Pierre. This is the third time I'm saying he's been directly involved. You're talking about one union president.

They're twelve, so you're talking you're talking about one. I said, I'm not going to provide any details at this time. The administration role broadly has been also in touch with with with parties. Just the President has been clearly Uh he's been held Uh has he's been brief but he has actually been directly involved. Not going to get into more details on that. But you're talking about one president out of twelve, one president of one union, is what

she's saying. Their twelve unions. Just so this isn't complicated at all. Now, if Congress does get involved, they can't do anything about this, of course, until they get back from their Thanksgiving break. So let's not hold our breath right now, but understand a little more about it as we're joined by Art Wheaton, director of Labor Studies at Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Aren't here we go again? But I guess it never really stopped

this way? Can you explain exactly how we got here again? A lot of people thought this was resolved with the so called tentative deal that had been announced a few

months ago. Well, they've been negotiating for more than two years to try to get an agreement, and the tentative agreement which was reached with the help of President Biden, Marty Wallash, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Agriculture, all involved in trying to resolve this dispute, and they came up with an agreement, a tentative agreement that needs to be ratified by the members. The agreement they came up with solved almost all of the financial problems or

financial issues. This imminent strike or potential strike is all about a changing in the attendance policy that was unilaterally implemented by the railway companies. So that's the big issue that wasn't that wasn't settled in before. So they added one more flexible day, and that wasn't seen as enough got it. And this was because people were getting fired

for going to the doctor. Correct And they had people literally dying while they were driving or you know, operating the train because they couldn't get a day off to go to the doctor and died of a heart attack. You've had lots of people missed their families funerals because

they couldn't get the time off. What do you make of the reaction from the White House here that they've They've made clear the Press Secretary today that Marty Walsh has been involved, that Joe Biden has, but would not answer questions about at what time or how frequently this one President again, you heard her reacting to his complaining

that the administration needs to get more engaged. Now. Well, the way it works for labor law in the United States is there's nothing that says the company ever has to say yes. So that can be pretty frustrating. So they exerted a lot of different pressure for all the names and the people that we talked about, But there's nothing here that the President and his secretaries can force on the railway companies to change their attendance policy. There is, however,

something that Congress can do. So the President Biden gave a thirty day pause, they had them go back and renegotiate. They offered up a tentative agreement. But there's really not a whole lot President Biden can do individually except lobby or try to persuade the rail companies to change their what is seen as a drug only in attendance policy. Congress can and will step in if they go out on strike. Yes, and we've seen this happen before, but it would not be preemptive, as your point correct. So

under the Railway Labor Act. So probably of the people that are in unions in the United States are either under the National Labor Relations Act or under a private sector or a public sector act. The plane strains and automobiles that are under the Railway Labor Act, and that's where this one falls onto, and that's why some of the remedies are quite different and strange as compared to

other labor law. Well, it brings us back to September and the questions we were asking democrats here, how do you how do you blunt an effort like this to avoid the economic impact of a strike but also be the labor party. Well, they've done what they can. They brought him to the table. So you would think the railway companies would feel at least some amount of pressure by having to speak in the White House with all

of the different secretaries. But there's still nothing in the US labor law that can force management to say yes. And I think they're trying to exert pressure, but there's nothing like a tragedy and a catastrophe to help change the thinking. If they do happen to go out on strike, that will start to change some of the calculations. And all of this will wait until the voting is done in Georgia. Oh man, it sounds like you can see

this happening this time around. Yes, But also you gotta remember that one of the few powers that a union has is not just necessarily to strike. It's the threat of a strike that can be very persuasive, and sometimes negotiations go to the very last minute. It is not unusual for the contract to get settled at PM for a contract that expires at twelve midnight. So those types of things have up in bargaining and you have to

be prepared for it. But you have to remember that at the bargaining table it's the union members and have to vote on it and agree to it. If they settled this two months early, then the membership would say, I'm not agreeing to this. You should have fought harder.

Why didn't you get what we wanted? So sometimes you have to go and teeter on the brink a disaster um to number one, get leverage on the company, and number two, to get your membership to agree that you gave it all you got to get what they needed. He knows he was a labor negotiator. Art Wheat and thank you for bringing us to school on this from Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations. All this on the brink of the holidays. Will reassemble our panel. Next

for the politics. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg. So no with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. If you feel like we have this conversation before, that is because we did. It was in September, the White House US was on the ropes with this potential rail strike. Same for Congress, hearing calls to step in and do something. Markets were moving. Actually, some shippers started changing plans. Remember they weren't even taking certain orders. They were looking for alternatives.

Start flying airplanes around, driving trucks around. I learned today actually on balance of power, three trucks for one train. To give you a sense of how much stuff would be affected by this, and this is why everyone is concerned in Washington. It would be a massive economic disruption on Christmas. And so we reassemble the panel for their take on this latest round. Jennie Chanzano and Lester Mounson are with us. Genie of course, Bloomberg Politics contributor and

Democratic analysts. Lester Mounthson, Republican strategist with government relations firm b g R Group. Genie, this is not what this

White House needs now. I mean, the impact on supply chain and ation would be a non starter politically, it would and it puts them in a real difficult situation because, of course the reality is that would put them in a terrible situation as we face the holidays economically, but on the flip side as you look, and I will quote Nancy Pelosi here, railroad companies are making obscene profits on the backs of these workers, and you should not

get fired for staying home when you're sick. So is the administration going to push through this agreement that was made, try to get Congress to push that through? Um? Are they going to try to push the corporations to really man up a woman up in a way and give workers what they need? Because this is absolutely and insane in a cruel system that these people, these workers are being subjected to, and it's got to be addressed, and

now is the time for them to do it. But the White House has, of course facing this inflation crisis and it's going to be really difficult to do. But you certainly think that Marty Washed the Labor Secretary, knows all of this. Uh, if he's a union guy, are

just surprised he hasn't been able to crack this. I mean, we thought we had a deal, yeah, I mean, And the reality is is that the Joe Biden went out and celebrated that deal when in fact it's still had to be approved by the workers at these twelve unions and one by one. I mean, it's sort of been in the back pages of the news. Many of these unions that have voted have said this doesn't go far enough.

And as you were just talking about with your guest, one more flexible day is not enough, and I urged people to read the reality of the situation. I mean,

he talked about people dying, missing funerals. They cannot take a day off from work, even when they're sick, and that is no way to treat workers in this country, particularly when they are making record profits and they happen less for the President claims to be, or certainly strives to be, as he says openly in his speeches, the most labor friendly, the most union friendly administration in history.

How come this White House can't make a difference here. Well, maybe Democrats have lost their feel for private sector unions. They're pretty enthralled with public sector unions these days. Maybe they've tilted a little bit too far in that direction. Uh. And as as Genie points out, the President was taken credit for this deal before the election, he's already kind of done his victory dance. It looks bad now that his deal for these folks was was not what they

thought was good enough. So the White House is gonna reap a little bit of what it has sewed here in what way, Especially if Congress steps in and stops it doesn't that save the White House. It does, and it doesn't. There's a real battle here in this country over private sector union workers. Politically, Republicans are making a better a better case to this Democrat effect than they have in decades. And I'm not saying I'm necessarily in favor of that, by the way, but this is where

the Republican Party is going. If the White House, you know, if this plays out in such a way that the White House has demonstrates a real failure of leadership, that's gonna benefit Republicans going forward in and a lot of these swing voters, a lot of these folks who are who are going to be affected by this directly that I'm talking about workers in the railroad industry are exactly the kind of voters both parties are looking for. It's gonna make it a little bit easier for Republicans to

go after them. We'll keep you posted on this. Obviously, this could break before December gets here, that that's when the deadline is and we'll keep tabs on this, but I'll tell you, Genie, this is not a conversation that Joe Biden wants to hear people having about his administration. It just runs against everything that he says, everything he says, everything he believes. And I mean, we're talking about am track, Joe, and I understand we're not directly talking about am Track

here as we talked about this railroad strike. But this is who Joe Biden and was, and and you know, just to follow up on Lester's point, the tension has been in the Democratic Party between you know, understanding and doing the work of the white you know, Midwestern voters who they seem to have lost in twenty sixteen to Donald Trump. Joe Biden got some of them back in. But you know, this kind of thing threatens to suggest that they may not understand what people lives are like.

And in this case, it's these railroad workers and to do the work to ensure that they get what they deserve and they're not asking for much. Meanwhile, on the southern border today, the man who would be speaker, Kevin McCarthy shows up in El Paso, and it was known he was going to make the trip. It wasn't known exactly what he would say here. It is our country may never recover from Secretary Mayorcas dereliction of duty. This is why today I am calling on the Secretary to resign.

He cannot and must not remain in that position. If Secretary majorcas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure. We'll determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry. There you go, which brings us back to where we started UH this hour with investigations and yes, apparent UH impeachment plans, certainly for the Secretary of Homeland Security. It's been suggested for the President of the United States,

along with the Attorney General. Ahead of his arrival, or at least ahead of the news briefing, Karine John Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, was asked about his trip to the border. They were ready for it. Here she is the question that we have for Kevin McCarthy, who soon to be who soon to be speaker? McCarthy, Um, you know, what is what is his plan? What is he doing to help the situation that we're seeing? What

what is his plan? He goes down there and he does a political stunt like many Republicans do that we have seen them do, but he actually is not putting forth a plan a plan to help us, uh, you know, deal with an issue that we're all seeing, that you

all are reporting. And I mean one of the things he can do is he can go to Texas Senator Ted Cruz or any members of the Republican Caucus from Texas who voted against the President's request for record funding to support the hard working men and women at the Department of Homeland Security. It's a pretty good answer, Lester, when you consider the voting record here. But is this a stunt for Kevin McCarthy or is he doing exactly

what voters want them to do. Well, it's definitely a stunt, But we we have a politics of stunts now, and that doesn't necessarily make it illegitimate at all. You know, the January sixth Commission hearings, to some extent can be characterized as a stunt. They had some impact. Uh So just because of the stunt doesn't mean it's bad. Can can Kevin McCarthy's message prevail? I think the White House has some definite weaknesses here. The record um security at

the border is not very good. Uh, and there there's a lot of questions about the policies and what they're carrying out. So a little bit of daylight and sunlight from the legislative branch I think might be a good thing here. But at the same time, Republicans are going to be in the majority, they do need to suggest alternative policies that could work. I think they will do that. But like the White House is not wrong to say

what's your plan? Fair enough? And I tend to think that the January six Committee made a greater contribution to

history than this trip of the border. But I get your point here, Genie, what's the Biden administration do on immigration reform, border security for the next two years when no one has an appetite for comprehensive legislation, You know, they should listen, you know, to people like Governor elect Katie Hobbs in Arizona, who is out talking about the fact um, you know, very calmly um, not quite as draconian as as Kevin McCarthy, about the fact that Democrats

really have to go visit the border and see what is going on because there is a crisis. Well no, I mean she's right there. She's right, there is a crisis at the border. That is absolutely true. Joe Biden has said it himself. So they need to listen to Democrats like her who are saying, you know, this is a challenge for us here and it needs to be addressed. Now. To your point, there is no appetite in Congress and hasn't been for decades to address this crisis. And Biden

is right. He put forward the Citizenship Act in January. It never passed, and they're right to ask Republicans what they're gonna do. Um, But beyond that, they really do have to at least do a better job of showing that they are caring about this issue and taking steps to address it, because it is something that you know, really most Americans give the administration loan marks on. They inherited this crisis, but they are in in control and they do need to at least take steps to address it.

You can't have Democrats like Katie Hobbs criticizing them and others at the Texas border and elsewhere, Democrats who say they're not doing enough. I know that Lester, this wouldn't get through the Senate, but but well, Republicans in the House impeach Alejandro mai orchis Uh. That's a great question. You know, if the Speaker says they're going to pursue that, there's seems to me like there's a decent chance they'll they'll try to do that. Yeah, as you point out,

the Senate won't convict. I do want to discroup j on one thing. I'm not sure the administration by administration inherited this. The Trump administration did have although it didn't build the wall that it said it was going to, their policies on the border, uh, did lead to fewer crossings than the current administration. So this is this is a new development. Yeah, there are a lot of ways to talk. The South too, also broke up a bunch of families. But boy, this is always easy to talk about.

Lester months and thank you Gennie Schanzano our panel. This is Bloomberg