What is the mood amongst your fellow Democrats right now.
Well, it's one of.
Introspection to see what we need to do in terms of connecting with rural communities, with the industrialized towns, factory towns, communities of color, working class voters, to build trust. But it's also one of resolve, a sense that we can win back in twenty twenty six, win back in twenty twenty eight, stand up to the president when he engages in actions that are extreme and betray the people who voted for him.
Do you feel like that there's a plan or a plan coming together inside the House where there is a vision to be able to block to pick up a couple vulnerable Republican members, to help you block Trump from doing his worst, including perhaps even voting to restrict funding
to some of Trump's more abusive policies. Has anybody sat down so far and with you in the room, and I would hope you would be one of the people in the room and said, we're not going to talk about what happened in the election, We're not going to talk about why we're sitting in the minority by two seats.
We're gonna have a conversation about what the plan is going to be come the noon hour on January twentieth, to be upfront in opposition to the abuses that we know are coming down the high way way.
Is that going on? It is?
I just was chatting with Jamie Raskin this morning in the House Democratic Caucus, and he was talking about how do we focus our attention on the most egregious abuses? And we are having those conversations with the ranking members on our committees. In fact, this morning we were electing ranking members to so that every day on the House floor in House committees, Democrats are speaking out about what's
going on and shining a light to it. In some sense, we are the front lines of letting people know what the Trump administration is doing and calling it out. In terms of Republicans joining in that effort, you know, the Republican Caucus has not suddenly become more functional. I mean just today, I'm having to possibly cancel my trip and meetings in New York end of the week because it looks like we're stuck here and they can't get a continuing resolution. So it's not going to take a lot
of work to find cracks in a Republican caucus. But right now, under Hakeem Jeffrey's leadership, I mean, we're focused on how do we have a vibrant, vocal, strong party ready to go on January twentieth, willing to call out the president when he does things that are clearly wrong.
With regard to the continuing resolution. As I understand the politics of this right now, the Speaker Johnson wants this to go into March, and Senate Republicans are saying, please God, no, we want to clean slate coming into the Trump presidency. We don't want to be stuck trying to fund the government in the first sixty days of the Trump presidency, in the middle of whatever it is he has planned, with the possibility that we have a chaotic situation? Am
I assessing that correctly? That's the politics of it.
Yeah, And you've.
Got, as always some Republicans saying, we don't want these continuing resolutions. We want to have a regular process. We want to have a regular budget. The problem is when they want a regular budget, they've got an extreme caucus that wants to cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut veterans benefits, cut food stamps, and Johnson knows that if they actually made those cuts.
They'd lose thirty seats. And so this is the dance song and dance they've been playing for over.
A year that they keep giving the Continuing Resolution because they don't have the votes on their side to pass a budget that isn't catastrophic.
And what puts Trump in the most difficult position? Do you think planning this till March and giving him the ball?
Well, look, I think that first were the Democrats are committed to doing what's right for the country, aren't looking at it from the lens of politics. And what will be terrible is to have some kind of government shut down before Christmas.
And before the holidays.
So we as long as they're not making cuts to Social Security and food Stamps and veterans benefits, are going to pass the Continuing Resolution.
But I think that is the likely outcome. And then Trump is going.
To have to decide what is he what is he going to do to get a budget and where is he going to.
Be willing to cut?
And he's going to have a lot of pressure from House Republicans to make cuts for programs that working class and middle class folks rely.
On in this vote, in this debate, So people who are watching and listening to this, so they understand basically postpones that larger debate until after Trump is president sometime in March. When this continuing Resolution this basic, we'll put it off till then postponement comes due.
Correct the continuing Resolution says we can fund government at the levels it is right now, no cuts, but we're going to wait to pass a full budget in March.
If we get the three months continuing resolution.
And this will give Democrats, then in a two seat minority, probably their maximum point of political leverage in dealing with Donald Trump potentially abusing the powers of the presidency on a range of issues with the power of the purse.
Absolutely.
I mean, this is going to mean that Johnson will need Democratic votes. I can't imagine that he's going to be able to get a budget passed without democratic votes. He hasn't been able to do it so far. And so Keem Jeffries, our leader, is going to have the leverage to go to Johnson and say, Okay, we're going to give you the votes because you're not going to
want to be blamed for a shutdown a government. You have every branch, you know, you got the House, you got the Senate vote, Chambers, you got the presidency.
The Supreme Court.
Is Republican appointees. The American people know you're in charge. But if you don't want to fail, we're willing to give you the votes in good faith.
But you can't, you know, have.
A Justice Department trying to put Liz Cheney and Jamie Raskin in jail. You can't be mass supporting eleven million undocumented immigrants, not criminals, but actual immigrants who have American families. Here where the American families, American citizens are getting caught up in these raids, and that is a power that the House Democrats will have. Look, I'm bias, Steve, but the action in the first six months in terms of standing up.
To the worst of Trump is going to fall on House Democrats.
No doubt about that. And do you do you feel like your team is ready? Do you go when team Jefferies is ready?
I do. I mean, Hakeem is disciplined, he's eloquent, and he is strong, and the caucus is very united. I mean, I know you read in the press generational battles and that's all good.
I mean there, but at the end of the day, it's a united FUCUS.
For example, today we had AOC running against Connolly.
I voted for AOC.
She lost Connolly one. You know, AC went over and hugged Connolly. We're all now on the same team getting the stakes of holding Trump accountable. So are there differences, Sure, But it's as unified a caucus as I have seen in my nine years in Congress.
And that's because people get the stakes.
If you had to take her aside afterwards, what would you what would you say right or what would be fair to say to her that well, if you want to win one of these elections next time, to chair a major committee in the Congress, in your caucus, you have to.
Do what Well, first of all, I think we should elevate her, and I hope after Connolly she's next.
She got eighty four votes.
But I would say, spend time with some of the key members, some of the more senior members. Just have coffee with them, get to know them, spend time with the Congressional Black Caucus.
Spend time campaigning.
As you have so effectively in building a base outside of Congress, you know, continue to do that within Congress. And you know, she did a lot of that, so I don't want to be seeming lam giving her advice that she's not already doing.
She's only been in Congress six years.
But I think if she continues on that trajectory, she has a very very good chance of being the chair of the Oversight Committee, which is a big deal. Like Henry Waxman chaired this committee, so to be the chair of this in her thirties, if she's next in line, is a pretty remarkable thing.
I'm Steve Schmidt. This is the warning and I invite you to join. Subscribe on our substack, on our YouTube channel, follow us. Welcome to the community.