No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - Trump screws America with tax cut bill for the rich

Episode Date: June 29, 2025

Trump and Republicans force through an enormous budget bill that extends tax cuts for the wealthy. Brian interviews Senator Elizabeth Warren about her efforts to defeat the Republican bill, CA governor Gavin Newsome on his new lawsuit against Fox News for (surprise!) their defamation and lies, and Democratic congressman Robert Garcia regarding his efforts to preserve fairness as the new ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.Shop merch: https://briantylercohen.com/shopYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/briantylercohenTwitter: https://twitter.com/briantylercohenFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/briantylercohenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/briantylercohenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/briantylercohenNewsletter: https://www.briantylercohen.com/sign-upWritten by Brian Tyler CohenProduced by Sam GraberRecorded in Los Angeles, CASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're going to talk about the deeply unpopular budget bill that Republicans are right now trying to ram through the Senate. And I've got three interviews I speak with Senator Elizabeth Warren about what's in the bill, Governor Gavin News about his new lawsuit against Fox News, and Congressman Robert Garcia, about taking over the oversight committee. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. As of late Saturday night, when I'm recording this, Republicans, of course, managed to scrounge together enough senators to pass the most unpopular budget bill in modern American history. This is a bill that has the support of only a third of Americans. It's going to strip health care away from 14 million Americans, food assistance away to the tune of $300 billion, and explode the deficit by $3 trillion. And I want to be clear,

Republicans know how unpopular this thing is, which is why someone like Josh Hawley has spent months, months railing against its most destructive provision, which is the deep cuts to Medicaid. Here, for example, is what he said. We can't be cutting health care for working people and for poor people in order to constantly give special tax treatment to corporations and other instances. And we've delayed that in this bill. But unless we take further changes or take for the steps, it will happen in future years. And I'm opposed to this.

If we're going to be working fast party, we've got to protect working people. And I just, the Medicaid stuff in the year, I think it's bad. I think we've delayed the worst of it. And in the short term, for my sake, you know, it's going to be fine. But we, on going forward basis, we can't up a lot like this. I think the party has a lot of thinking to do. Wow, some earnest critique of his own party's bill. And yet, you know how Holly really drove that message home?

By voting for the same bill he just criticized. This guy has spent literal months trashing the health care consequences of this bill. He wrote an op-end in the New York Times, tweeted about it, spoke about it on any outlet that would have him, and then validated the very thing that would codify those changes that he warned about. That right there is the absolute peak of hypocrisy. Clout chasing to the ends of the earth when it could get you good press and then ensuring that the very thing you clout chased against is going to happen.

Josh Hawley is the poster child for the two-faced depravity that people hate about politicians. I mean, my God, the only time I've seen this guy run away from his own stated positions faster was when he ran away from the insurrectionist who he cheered on on January 6. Dude's entire career is playing both sides of the coin. And while he's the most egregious, definitely not the only one. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Cynthia Lummis, every single senator, every Republican who had concerns heading into this vote ultimately did what every Republican does, which is fall in line.

The bill didn't become any more moderate. It's just that they caved because this party exists to serve Donald Trump and the people who fuel their campaigns. And those people don't care about cuts. to Medicare and Medicaid. Those people don't care about cuts to food assistance. Those people don't care about higher energy costs. Those people don't care about clean energy. They don't care about the deficit. What they care about is their tax cut. And they're about to get it. Because when Republicans are in control, they always get it. GOP promises an infrastructure plan and a health care

plan and a middle class tax cut and a jobs boom and a manufacturing renaissance, lower costs for groceries and rent and housing, and they'll get none of those things. But they sure as hell get a tax cut just like they did in 2017 and just like they're about to get right now. All of the empty rhetoric and populist promises are window dressing to make the marks in the Republican base think that they're getting something, but they never do. The priority is always, always the ultra-wealthy just like it is right now. So when it comes to Republicans caving, of fucking course they caved.

Never bet against the cowardice of today's GOP. They'll do the hemming and hawing and they'll feign concern and they'll furrow their brows. It's all an act. They're all self-serving cowards who will put party over country every single time. So look, as of this recording, again, the bill did advance, which means the final vote is likely to be sometime on Sunday night or Monday morning. If you are listening to this before the vote, call your senators, especially if you live in red or purple states, 202-224-3-1. It's all hands on deck, so do your part now to make sure this bill doesn't pass. Next up are my interviews with Elizabeth Warren, Gavin Newsom, and Robert Garcia.

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for joining me. You bet. We are right now in a five-alarm fire situation as Republicans are looking to pass this budget bill today. You have some breaking updates about what this newly scored version of the bill would do. Can you explain what you know now? So the latest, because the Republicans have added more this and more that to try to make sure they've got all their members covered, is that the cuts to Medicaid, remember, that's little babies, people with disabilities, seniors in nursing hubs, cuts to Medicaid will be almost just shy of a trillion dollars. And then there will be cuts to Medicare on top of that. Again, also that billionaires can get tax breaks.

Jeff Bezos really needs that right now with $50 million wedding going on. Right, exactly. You know, they have avoided Medicare in the past. And I believe that you and I have spoken about this when we last interviewed. But the reason that they avoided Medicare was because that's a stronger voting block. These are seniors more difficult to target than the recipients of Medicaid, which, to your exact point, these are children, these are the disabled, and so less of a potent voting block. And so what is your message to Medicare recipients out there in light of this new news that

clearly Republicans are hoping they won't find out because, you know, introduce this legislation and try to quickly vote on it before it really, before Democrats have the opportunity to explain to people what's in the bill? That's right. You got that one exactly right. So this means now is the moment. Call your senator all across the country. Call your senator and say vote no.

And it's the cuts to Medicare, but I want to give you one more reason to pick up that phone. There's one more analysis that has now come out. And that is if these cuts go through, one out of every four nursing homes in the country is expected to close. not suffer, not struggle, close. And think about what that means. We already have waiting lists for nursing homes are already struggling with seniors who need care, and particularly seniors who have outrun their savings. And that's what is getting cut in this bill. Nearly a trillion dollars and cuts to Medicaid and more cuts to Medicare, taking away health care from millions of seniors, taking away health care from people with disabilities, taking away health care

from little babies. That's what it's all about for the Republicans right now. Can you also speak about what we would see in terms of hospital closures and kind of as an add on to that? Republicans have introduced kind of some stopgap funding to prevent these hospital closures or to stave off the hospital closures for a temporary amount of time. But what does the fact that they would even need to introduce this funding say about the reality of what their own bill would do? Yeah, you know, so you've got it exactly right. So here they are.

They're going to make about a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid. And like we said, and to Medicare beyond that. And the reason that matters so much to hospitals is hospitals have got no room to cover uncompensated care. So right now they've got people who've got their private insurance, right? That's part of it. And then we've got Medicare Medicaid covering everybody else. You make cuts to Medicare Medicaid. People still get sick. People still have heart attacks. People are still in car accidents. They show up in the emergency room. There's no one who will pay the hospital bills. And so this means hospitals that are already operating at the margin are going to start shutting down.

Right, because otherwise they would be on the hook for these costs that wouldn't, that would normally be covered by Medicaid or Medicare, but now they're not. Exactly. So, so what are the hospitals going to do? Part of what they'll do is some of them will just have to shut down. Some, and that's most likely going to be in a lot of rural areas, places where they're already on the economic margins. They're also going to start shutting off services. So they just say, you know what, we can't do that kind of procedure. We can't deliver babies anymore. We're not going to be able to take people for certain kinds of surgeries anymore. So they start shrinking up the hospital of the hospitals that survive. Third thing that hospitals are going to start pushing toward is can they charge the people with private insurance more?

So right now, you get your insurance personally, get it off the market or you get your insurance through your employer. There's a lot of talk right now in the health care industry. They're saying the price of your insurance is going to go up because of the cuts to Medicaid. That's because the system is woven together here. And there's no way to take a trillion dollars out of this system and say, but that's okay. The system will still survive. It will not. And the people who will get hurt will be everyone.

And I think the point I wanted to also make was Republicans are at the same time that they're trying to pass this bill, claiming that none of this will happen, but simultaneously trying to offer up some stopgap funding to prevent the very thing that they are saying will not happen. Exactly right. So they've said they've tried to buy a couple of Republicans to get back in the voting with them by saying, okay, okay, we're going to create this special fund for, rural hospitals. That's how we're going to fix it. We're going to cut a trillion dollars, but we're going to give all of the rural hospitals in the country $15 billion to fight over. Now, two things you've got to say about that. First of all, we've had different Republican senators who've held up a hand and say, wait a minute, in my state alone, the cuts are going to be more than $40 billion. Are you kidding? In one state, that's not enough money. But the second point is a one-time infusion of a tiny little bit of money,

isn't going to cut it. We talk about a trillion dollars in cuts. That's because it's over the period we measure. But those cuts, they intend them to stay there forever. And so that just means the hospitals, some will have to shut down in the first few months, some in the first few years, some a little later, if we really are, if they really are going to withdraw,

a trillion dollars from our health care system. And you know what the most depraved part is, even this insufficient amount of money that they're infusing into the system to just barely keep it afloat in these rural areas, there's a major drop-off from 2028 to 2029. And I don't know if it's because maybe they think that the pendulum might swing from Trump to a Democrat,

but all of these cuts are really going to land like the hardest in 2029, when presumably there may very well be a Democratic president, but it basically buys them enough time so that they can get through the rest of Trump's administration and then kind of kick the can down the road that way. And if there is a Democrat in office, well, that's when the brunt of these cuts are really going to take hold.

And so who are people going to be mad at? Are they going to be mad when Democrats say, oh, you don't understand these cuts were enacted three years ago or four years ago by Republicans and it just took some time to settle in? Or are we going to see a situation where Republicans go, hey, weren't things better when Republicans were in charge? Weren't things better when Donald Trump was in charge?

You know, you are so right on that point, but you know who gets theirs right now? The billionaires on their tax cuts. In fact, you talk about obscene provisions in this bill. This bill also has something called R&D expensing, which is supposed to incentivize businesses to take on research. But what it does is it's retroactive. So META is going to be able, if this bill becomes law in its current form, meta is going to get a check on day one, ready to go, for $15 billion for activities that they had undertaken back in 2022, 2020, and 2023, and 2024. Think about that.

So the billionaires get theirs right up front. And then whatever happens, you know, Ksaross Rock, whatever happens, happens. Right. But they're going to get their money while the getting's good. And they're going to push off the costs onto families. And it's just like you say, they're going to try to roll out as long as they can before it really bites and start shutting down hospitals all across the country until right after the next election. They've got some of this triggering in 2026, but most of it is actually. after Trump is gone.

You know, the cynicism in this. This is about Republicans who just don't care about people. What they care about is how they can play the game so that their billionaire donors are still solid with the Republicans and that they can put off the political effects of how they're going to take away health care, how they're going to kill people, just move it on down the line.

I mean, talk about a good ROI. Mark Zuckerberg donates a million dollars to Donald Trump's campaign and right off the bat, as soon as this bill possibly passes, he'll be getting a $15 billion check for things that he already spent money on, a cost that was already written off. So I do want to put a spotlight on a statement that your Republican colleague, Josh Hawley made, and I'll put it right here on the screen. Josh Hawley says that he will vote yes on the bill,

but that he's not pleased that it will take away health care from working people. Quote, this has been an unhappy episode here in Congress, this effort to cut Medicaid. And I think, frankly, my party needs to do some soul searching. If you want to be a working class party, you've got to deliver for working class people. You cannot take health care away from working people. And unless this is change moving forward, this is what will happen in coming years. So I'm going to do everything I can do to stop that. And apparently what he's going to do to stop that is to advance and vote for the very legislation

that would do the thing that he's complaining about. Can I have your reaction to that? Everything you can do, vote no. Just vote against this. Use the power, the biggest power you've got, and that is the power to say no. It's not enough to hand ring. It's not enough to talk about how we're going to have these soul searching. No, this is about action.

And the American people, the people of your home state need your vote, and they need it to block this bill that's going to take a trillion dollars out of the health care system. And crash health care for millions of people all across this country. Look, he talks about this is a bad episode in Congress. No, this is Republicans. Every single Democrat is locked arms on this. We are all voting, no, and we have said that from the beginning. We are doing everything we possibly can.

Right now, we're going to demand that they have to read the bill, just everything we can do to slow this process down. And the reason for that is we want everybody to have a chance to hear more about what's in this bill, how many terrible parts are in this bill, and get a chance to call their senators and tell their senators to vote no. it's it's not about later on tell me how sorry you are it's about do something now while you can tell your senator to vote no there's also a new piece of opposition to this bill and that is an in an unlikely ally for democrats Elon Musk has just come out and tweeted the latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country utterly insane and destructive it gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. And this is likely predicated on the fact that the Senate draft raises taxes on all wind and solar projects that haven't begun construction yet, while at the same time offering

up new subsidies to coal industries. So can I have your reaction to Elon's intervention here? So actually, let's talk about what Elon is talking about first. The provision got even worse than the one you just cited. It's now taking away all support for basically clean. energy projects that can't be finished by the end of this calendar year. So all the big projects are just going to lose their support. Why does this matter? Because this takes away energy at a time we need it. And this means that people's utility bills are going to go up. The estimates before the latest twist in the Senate bill was that most people would pay somewhere between 220 and 400 and $150 a year more on their utilities because of the Republican bill. Now it's just getting

more and more extreme. And look, on this, I think Elon is exactly right. Undermining clean energy at this moment and adding a subsidy for the oil and gas industry, it just makes no sense except for political donations. You know, because there's another provision in here. You remember how, what's it meant, about four years ago when the Democrats still had the majority, we got my minimum, my corporate minimum alternative tax through. Do you remember this? Yes, I think it was 15% if that's correct.

Any business that had more than a billion dollars in profits, regardless of what other deductions and so on, they had to at least be paying 15%. percent of those profits as taxes. It was just a minimum tax saying, in effect, we're not going to let you guys just keep working your way through the system. And so you get loophole after loophole after loophole. You tell your investors, we made $3 billion. And then you tell the IRS, nah, we only made a dollar and a half. I mean, remember the New York Times report, it was either the Times or the Washington Post that showed that even the Trump organization paid something like $750 in their corporate taxes. Exactly. So these guys were paying. Amazon one year was reporting

$11 billion in profit and paid zero in taxes. So the idea is to say we're going to have corporate minimum taxes. Do you know what's in this bill? In this bill is, except for the oil and gas industry. They are going to get a special carve out because that was the price of getting Senator Lankford's vote. Lankford from Oklahoma's vote in this. And that's what this bill is. You know how people talk about bills that are full of pork? This thing has just become obscene. It's carve-outs for the wealthy, carve-outs for the big donors, big, special giveaways to the richest and the most powerful. And how they pay for it, the one-two-pun. and that is take nearly a trillion dollars out of the health care system, more than that when we add the cuts to Medicare, and deficit finance, the rest of it to the tune of trillions of dollars, put it on the credit card, and let our kids and our grandkids pay for it.

This bill is mean, this bill is unkind, and frankly, this bill is just economically. not how America builds a strong future. We'll leave it there. For everybody who's watching right now, if you haven't yet spoken to your senator, if you haven't yet called their office, especially if you live in a red or purple state, call 202-224-3121.

That is the Senate switchboard, the congressional switchboard. They can get you in touch with your senator's office. Please make sure to call. Today is the day that this action is required. Senator Warren, I appreciate your time today. Thank you so much. Oh, I appreciate you.

And can I add one more thing? A hundred percent. And if you've already called, call again. And call again. Make sure they know how much you care about this. Because this is everybody's future on the line. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an independent or don't even like politics, it's everybody's future on the line.

It's health care for everyone. It's clean energy for our entire world. It's whether or not we build a future in which somebody besides the billionaires actually has a chance to prosper. So call and call again. Perfectly put. Senator Warren, thank you again. Thank you. No lie is brought to you by Everyday Dose. Now look, I love my coffee routine. I need it to stay awake, especially when you're doing long days covering Donald Trump, but I don't like the way the coffee makes me feel. Everyday dose is the solution to this because it has that classic coffee taste that you love without the nasty side effects plus added benefits. And so I don't deal with that

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distorted facts. They lied about a phone call that never occurred between the President of the United States and myself on not one, but multiple occasions. Their news organization from John Roberts himself to Jesse Waters, knowingly misstated facts. In fact, so much so there was a Chiron in the Jesse Waters show that blatantly suggested that I lied about a phone call with Donald Trump. And so I'm not someone litigates. I'm not someone that typically would jump on something like this. But it was so blatant. It was so gratuitous that I felt compelled to push back against this propaganda network.

And so what would it take for you to dismiss this case? Because that was part of the letter that had been sent to Fox News via your attorneys today. Yeah, I mean, it's simple. Just apologize and give it as much airtime that you gave it when you weaponized the lie. Remember, this is the largest news organization, cable news organization in the United States, 65 plus million people, Fox News, Fox Business, hundreds of millions of people as it relates to social networks carry that. My inbox was blowing up saying, you know, from people that are supporters of mine saying, why did you lie about the phone call? I said, what are you talking about? not realizing the origin story. So it was damaging. It was impactful. It was happening in the middle of a very contentious moment in U.S. history, not just the history of this state vis-a-vis the Trump administration. It was around the National Guard and the back and forth. And I just have never seen something so blatant. It's one thing to assert, it's one thing to omit. It's another to see a news organization knowingly and willfully lying and manipulating the fact.

in defaming someone. So look, we can allow it to continue or we can push back. And I'm choosing in this defamation suit to push back and demanding an apology. And in the absence of that, let's go to court. I'm going to put a clip of Jesse Waters show right here on the screen. And he said there wasn't a phone call. He said Trump never called him. Not even a voicemail, he said. But John Roberts got Trump's call logs. And it shows Trump called him late Friday night and they talked for 16 minutes. why would Newsome lie who claimed Trump never called him?

Why would he do that? So, of course, this was Jesse Waters editing out the part where Donald Trump says that he spoke with you a day ago because he's trying to run cover for him and lie on his behalf. I'm old enough to remember when Republicans and these Fox News hosts

and even Donald Trump himself were suggesting that an edited interview at the hands of CBS was one of the worst the worst crimes that a news network could commit against somebody. And so what do you, what's your reaction to the fact that these are people who are right now on the heels of suggesting that CBS is like, you know, is this network of criminals for interfering in the election on Kamala Harris's behalf? And then you've got Fox News doing the exact same thing that they

were just decrying five minutes earlier. You nailed it. And not only is CBS 60 minutes and those ongoing settlement conversations, but the settlement that occurred at ABC News that was advanced by Donald Trump and, of course, covered up again, supported and weaponized in terms of that cover on Fox itself. I mean, Jesse Waters, I mean, this is the amazing thing about this guy. He has himself said, when you manipulate or edit facts for a public official, someone needs to be fired. He actually asserted. They said, someone needs to be fired. I think he's right in that case. He was wrong in this case to be the participant in this smear,

this defamation, and this lie. And so I hope he reads his own words. I'm going to put Fox News's statement up on the screen. They wrote, Governor Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.

Can I have your reaction to their statement? Well, it's almost verbatim what they say. in the Dominion case, 787 million reasons. They fell short. They knew they had lied in that original statement against Dominion. Their line in this case. I mean, look at the Chiron you just put up. So has Gavin lied about call Trump? Yeah. Period full stop. I mean, I don't know what more the smoking gun you need. And so, look, this is a, this organization needs to be held to account. And I think what's so frustrating, I think, for all of us is they learn no lessons from that defamation case as it relates to Dominion. Nothing.

They continue the practices that led to that record-breaking settlement. And that's why this needs to be filed. That's why we felt compelled to make this case and to assert ourselves. And look, they want to apologize. They can apologize that they want to hide behind these lies. They'll pay a price. How confident are you that this satisfies? the qualifications to meet the threshold of defamation, because it is a high bar for public

officials, public personas and news networks, even though, you know, clearly to your exact point, they were found, they were found liable of defamation in their previous lawsuit with Dominion voting systems. I think it's cut as dry. We've got to prove Maxwell malice. That's not complicated. They knowingly lied. They knowingly edited. They notably misrepresented the facts knowingly did. the above. And it's interesting. We are the, the firm representing us, the folks that represented the Sandy Hook families. We've got some of the top attorneys in the United States of America. They wouldn't have filed this unless they knew this was an ironclad case. We filed it in Delaware where Fox is incorporated. And, and I trust me, I'm all in on the litigation. Enough. Fox is out of

control. The Trump administration is out of control. They're covering up for them. They'll cover up by line and defaming public officials. They need to be held to account. That's not ethical. That's not journalism. Those are not the core tenants of a news organization. That is malice. It's willful. And it's meant to demean and destroy the reputation of their enemies. And I could take it. I take it 24-7 on Fox. They've been coming after me for years and years and years. But they crossed the line on this and they've defamed my character in a way that they need to be held to account. Simple apology will do in the absence of that full accountability because they need to be stopped and they need to be held to journalistic and ethical account. What do you make of the fact

that this is a news network that is showing that part of its business model is lying on behalf of Trump or the Republican Party or their agenda more broadly to the tune to the, to the, to the to the point where, you know, these $787 million payouts to Dominion voting systems, this lawsuit that they're now contending with by you in your personal capacity, it almost feels like the cost of doing business if you're Fox News, that they are just there to lie. And if it means they have to pay, that's just, you know, you got to pay in the same way that they have to pay their employees in the same way

that you have to, you know, stock the break room with coffee. It's just, okay, now we have a pot of money that we have to go to satisfying these lawsuits. It appears that way. I mean, to your point, you would think after knowingly, well, being caught as it relates to the Dominion case and not wanting to go to trial because they knew they would lose in that trial and settling for that record amount of money, they would stop. They haven't stopped. To your point. And it's about truth. It's about trust. Go after your enemies. Go after people. I get it. I get it. You got a strong bias. That's fine. But don't cloak it under the news frame. Don't suggest your. you're running an ethical operation or at least reporting the news. That's an opinion operation. And so that's fundamentally the line that needs to be drawn here. Again, I have no problem with criticism. I take it as much or more than anybody,

but I have a problem with people crossing that red line of ethics. It's no longer a news organization. It's a propaganda network. And they didn't, to your point, learn the lesson from dominion. And unless we push back, unless we assert ourselves, unless we stand up, They'll continue to run roughshot over facts, truth, trust, and this democracy and what's happening with this guy in the White House and the fact that they're covering up for such extraordinary abusive behavior.

The President of the United States lied, but that's not a news story when he said that he had a call with me the day before. It was a lie. He then tried to cover up his own lie, the President of the United States, with a screenshot, that actually proved my point that he was referring to a call many days before. And then Fox tried to cover up for his lie in his manipulation. That's a bridge too far. And I just want folks to know listening, not this is my personal capacity, but if there's any

punitive damages, they go to the advancement of truth and trust. They don't go to me. This is not about something I'm trying to capitalize on, but I am trying to capitalize on a construct and a commitment to fairness and decency and to ethics and journalistic integrity. And Fox can't lay claim to accessing the minds of millions and millions of people with the rules that have been established in this country without meeting some basic ethical standards. And they've broken that in this case. You know, Fox and critics will say that this will chill free speech and that Democrats are hypocritical because this is happening at the same time that the left complains about Trump's attacks on CBS and Paramount and their lawsuit with ABC News. And so what would your reaction to that be?

Well, don't lie. Don't knowingly and willfully lie and distort the facts. Don't defame someone knowingly. Report the news, express a point of view, be objective, news organization, but do not commit the assault on truth and trust by knowingly and willfully lying in demeaning the facts and demeaning the character of the target of their derision, period, full stop. And again, we're just asking for an apology. I'm not asking for a settlement only in the absence of an apology. When do they have to apologize by? They've got a few

weeks to do so, and we're ready to go if they don't. Based on that statement, again, almost mimicking the Dominion statement, they seem to want to fight this out. And I say, bring it on. I want to switch gears a little bit here in the couple minutes that we have to talk about something that's happening in California, some good news happening in California, a beat that I've been on for a long time, obviously on broadcasting from Los Angeles here, where we've spoken numerous times about how the entertainment industry has been decimated, how other states and other countries have been able to lure the business away, whether it's Atlanta, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Austin, New Orleans. So much of the film. industry here in Los Angeles has been so gutted over the, over the last, you know, five to ten years. And so I know that we have an update that is also breaking right now. Can you explain what just happened in the California legislature? Literally, we just more than doubled our film tax credit to over $750 million. It's a big commitment to invest in the future of not only film, but pre and post production to invest in the ecosystem in not only Hollywood but throughout the state

of California to recognize the point you just made. The world we invented, Hollywood is now competing against us, not just in states, but as you suggest, all around the globe. And for the United States of America, I think it's also a wake-up call as it relates to losing one of our great exports. And I think for the Trump administration, they may want to do a little bit more in this space, themselves from a national prism. But the state of California is finally starting to get back in the game. And I'm really pleased that the legislature finally moved on this proposal. We announced it last October and went through a budgetary process.

We had a challenging budget this year. Nonetheless, we significantly increase this investment that shows our commitment. And Brian, I want to just reinforce this. We also know that this is not enough. It's not just about the money. It's about intentionality. It's about an attitude. It's about showing respect for this industry and those that support it and making sure that this is the beginning of a process to double down and support one of the world's great exports film.

Can you speak about who this is going to impact? Because I know that there are going to be critics who say, look, with all of the terrible shit happening across the country right now, Now, you're giving money to these rich and famous actors in Hollywood, but can you shed some light on who this actually impacts and what it means for the city of Los Angeles? Well, these are the people putting up the lighting. These are the folks out there with the catering trucks that are getting the benefits. These are teamsters. These are brothers and sisters in labor that the grips and others.

These are the folks that frankly don't, you know, their names may appear in the credits, but they're way down the line. It's not about the headline talent. This is about keeping these jobs and maintaining that ecosystem and, dare I say, extended terms of the supply chain here in the state of California. But it's also about Los Angeles. It's also about the recovery in L.A. It's also about pride. It's about spirit. It's about those intangibles. So yes, it's an economic and workforce development strategy. Yes, it's in an area of our state disproportionately that's been devastated. by wildfires and now is under siege by 4,900 military that have been deployed against the will of the sitting governor in the state. And it's about getting people back on their feet and once again, working again in a region of our state that deserves our attention and investment.

You'd mentioned previously that this is, you know, the beginning steps that there will be more, Or do you anticipate or could you commit to or is there any hope that in the future we will see, yes, we have one of the country's highest tax credits now at $750 million. I believe Atlanta is Georgia is higher with a million dollars. But do you anticipate that we'll see an even higher tax credit if and when this proves to work in the future? Yeah, look, if this works, success leaves clues. I mean, there's, you know, and we've seen the power of emulation.

We've seen the success of other states. Look, Georgia, I've got to give them credit. I mean, Georgia has made a long-term investment over the course of many, many years. And at first, people looked at it, rolled their eyes a little bit, said maybe, you know, this is the next iteration. Maybe it's a New Mexico version. Maybe they're trying to be like Toronto. Maybe there's not a lot of sustain power. But they've sustainably continued to make those investments.

And I've got to tell you, the values coming out of Georgia, as it relates to progressive values that a lot of the folks in film are promoting, they run anathom under that. This is the states that are trying to roll back the, you know, that last century as it relates to LGBTQ rights and voting rights and civil rights and many other fundamental rights. I imagine a lot of these producers, a lot of these writers would love to start writing and producing films back in the state of California because it more aligns with their values as well, the talent, both in front of the screen and behind the screen. So we got to step up and I'll just, to your question, also say it's not just the state that

that needs to step up. I mentioned the federal government, and that's important, but also local government needs to step up. You've got to fix your permitting issues. We've got to fix the jurisdictional issues around permitting within cities and counties. We've got to make it easier. We've got to address some of the overtime issues, not as a way to degregate or diminish the rightful earnings of people that are working overtime, but there are some deeply expensive costs associated with security some of these sites and some of the productions have highlighted that. And I hope as well, as a former mayor of San Francisco, I did some local tax credits that we see cities all up and down our state amplifying our state tax credit with local tax credits.

Well, look, you know, again, I've been on this beat for a long time. I know that this is beyond appreciated and it's a long time coming too. So I'm grateful for your work and making sure it gets passed, grateful for the legislature's work in making sure that this gets passed and hopefully more to come in the future. But one television show that all eyes are on right now as it relates to your lawsuit here that we spoke about is Jesse Waters. So I guess it's Jesse Waters moves here and we'll see what happens next. So with that said, Governor Newsom, appreciate your time today. Thanks for having me on. I'm joined now by the new ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia.

Thanks so much for taking the time. Yeah, happy to be here. Thanks. Now that you are atop this committee, what is going to be your first priority, especially as it relates to Donald Trump and Republicans moving forward? Yeah. I mean, look, first, I'm obviously very grateful to the House Democratic Caucus for this opportunity. I love oversight and the work that this committee does. And so I think there's an opportunity here to really work to hold this administration accountable. We know that this administration is the most corrupt in our history as a country and

And certainly, if you look at the modern era, there's just no level of corruption that has ever impacted our agencies, the American public, the connection between corporations and corporate power and money. And so the work is more important than ever. And when I came into Congress, I looked at folks like Jamie Raskin, who was leading this committee as a true hero in this work in protecting the Constitution. So the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of someone like Chairman Raskin is for me an important moment and an important responsibility. Our top priority needs to be to hold Donald Trump accountable

for his crimes and corruption, to hold the Trump family accountable for their crimes and corruption. When you think about the $400 million plane, when you think about the coin and the crypto scheme that essentially is a bank account for foreign money to just pour in, when you think about the investments of the Trump hotel properties and places across the world where we're trying to have actually diplomacy. That is corruption. And over and over again, whether it was the Kushner's deal with Saudi Arabia when they left the White House, whether it's selling Trump-branded products, this is all concerning. Presidents should not be profiting off the White House. And so it's going to be our job as the lead committee on investigations to investigate this

corruption. Now, at the same time, we're going to have to make sure that we take on powerful interests, large corporations that are looking right now at scamming the American public. That will also be an important part of committee. And finally, this is the committee on oversight and government reform. And the government reform piece is exciting. It's going to be a forward-looking agenda around how we make government more efficient, more effective for the American public, how we use technology and innovation to provide services better, how we uplift federal workers, and make essentially the services of the federal

government easier to use. And so I'm excited about that work ahead. It's a big agenda, but we're ready. We're getting started. With that said, that raises the obvious question. You're obviously going to face a lot of opposition from these Republicans. And so from the minority, how are you able to exercise the full breadth of your powers when you have an opposition party that really exists to serve as an extension of the executive branch? Yeah, I mean, I think first we've got to be fearless and taking on some of the kind of loudest voices in the MAGA universe, right?

And we've got to continue to call out Marjorie Taylor Green and Nancy Mace and Jim Jordan, all of who sit on this committee and be honest with the American public that they are telling lies to distort what we as Democrats are trying to do and they're trying to move our country backwards. And then we've got to take on powerful interests like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. But it's the power of oversight is that we also have the power to do investigations, even in the minority. We still have the power to try to move forward legislation, even if even in the minority, And certainly, as Republicans hold their hearings, like they've done in the past to try to, for example, impeach President Biden or they've tried to have these crazy dose hearings to promote their ideas with Elon Musk, I think Democrats have done a pretty good job of pushing back, of calling out the lies, of making sure that people know that we're there to enforce the truth. And look, you've got folks in this committee like Maxwell Frost and Jasmine Crockett and Greg Casar and Summer Lee and newer members.

like Yasimina Ansari and incredible people, Dave Min, just folks that are committed, I think, to exposing the truth and not afraid to punch back. So I think that's going to be important as well. So something that I focus on and I know something that's been a priority of yours is the messaging aspect of all of this. That it's kind of like if a tree falls in the forest, nobody hears it did it actually happen? A lot of what happens in government almost doesn't matter if nobody knows because a lot of the pressure to be able to do anything comes from all of these outside voices being able to put that pressure on the majority. And so in terms of the messaging focus of this committee, how is this going to be different from your predecessor, for example?

Yeah, I mean, I think, look, this is something that we're going to build out. I think that we have a very unique opportunity. I mean, I obviously as the new ranking member, when we win the majority to chair this committee, we're going to build a committee that is forward-looking. that uses communication at the best of our ability that is reaching out to people where they're consuming their information. I mean, we want folks that are watching you that are getting most of their information and news

from whether it's YouTube or what they're watching on their phones. That's the future. And to be in digital spaces to produce content that is relatable and that people can understand so that a complex investigation is not just a letter that goes out on committee letterhead, but is translated in a way that people can understand what is happening with our investigations. Because that's not going to happen overnight, but I can promise you that in the months ahead,

you are going to see this committee communicate in places and in ways that it hasn't before. Love to hear it. And glad to see the eventual retirement of posting a JPEG of some statement onto Twitter and just calling it a day. With that said, you yourself, I believe, are probably the youngest oversight committee ranking member the Democratic Party has had, the Democratic Party rewards its members by seniority. And we're seeing that play out in virtually every committee that we have. And so with your assent to the top of oversight, how is the party looking at the rest of these committees right now so that there's less of an incentive just to stay there as long as possible and then inherently within that, you have the oldest members who may be the least adept at

being able to optimize in this media environment, you know, from those people being the ones to have all the power in these committees. Yeah, I think, you know, I learned, I just learned this morning that I'm the first ranking member in over a hundred years to be elected as a sophomore in their software term. I get like the kind of weight of that. And I take that like obviously really seriously. I'm really, really grateful that our copy. caucus looked at kind of where we're out as a party and made the decision that we need to expand the tent and bring in newer voices to the leadership table and bring in different perspectives. And so I am pumped and fired up about this caucus supporting me. And I think the folks that we are bringing to the table in a new way. So I think that's number one, a great move by the party and this Democratic caucus in the House. Secondly, look, I think we're going to push to do things differently. And, you know, being at the leadership table, you're going to see this committee move in a very different way. And I think the fact that oversight is, in my opinion, not the most important.

One of the most important committees in the Congress. We are charged with the investigations and the main investigations of essentially the executive branch as well as corporate power. And so what we do and how we message it is going to resonate and build the larger message, I think, for the country and for the party. So I take that responsibility of what we do. I know this committee oftentimes gets more attention than what other committees might do. We're going to use that kind of spotlight to highlight and go after the corruption of Donald Trump, the corruption of some of these large corporations that are ripping off the American people,

and then also do some really good things. And I want to use the talents. You know, when you have someone as talented as like a summer lee on your committee, when you have have someone, when you have Rocana, when you have Max Frost, let's use them to explain to the American public of what oversight actually is doing. And I think there's some unique opportunities there. Can you talk about what your first priority? I mean, like tangibly speaking, your first party, because I know that there is, there's a full raft of things that oversight is going to have, is going to have jurisdiction over, whether it's, you know, Trump's corruption, whether it's, you know, the Elon Musk of it all, whether it's the ways in which this government, you know,

the administration is lying. What is your immediate priority given the moment that we're in right now? So I think there's two things. One is obviously building the best team possible on the staff side, on the committee side, and that's obviously obvious, right? As far as our work, I think the single most important thing right now for this committee to do is to expose the just egregious corruption that is happening across every agency in government. And we've got to be talking about Donald Trump's corruption every single day. It is beyond what anyone has ever done. He's essentially turned the White House into an ATM for himself and his family.

If President Obama or President Biden had done just one of these things, it would be an international scandal. Oh, you mean the guy that they made a six-month story about the color. suit he wore, he would have, you know, if he did any of the things that Donald Trump is doing right now, if he started a meme coin where the money gets funneled back into his pocket, if he bought a $400 million plane from a state sponsor of terrorism country, that that wouldn't be a, that would be something that they would focus on. Yeah, if he sold Bibles with his signature on them, that wouldn't be, you know, they just pass it off as, oh, now, who cares?

I mean, give me a break. I mean, this is complete. I mean, what's happening right now is serious. Look, we have a lot of committees that are doing really important work, right? I mean, we've got big issues in health care. We've got education issues. We've got issues on the tax system. Well, our job is to expose corruption and bring transparency to government, and I take that responsibility really seriously. Okay, let's finish off with this.

And this is something that I've been particularly focused on, but that is so often we talk to people and, you know, whether it's ranking members of committees or just anybody in the party and we'll say, like, what are your priorities? And they're like, oh, we have to try to find common ground and figure out where we can work together with our Republican brothers and sisters, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

And there's more that connects us than drives us apart. And we never get that same messaging from the other side. They're not coming in looking to work in a bipartisan fashion. They're looking to basically give Donald Trump the green light to traffic in the overt corruption that he's in right now and to consolidate more power for themselves. And so there's this massive asymmetry where one party is looking to kind of protect the government from of the past and work together. And like, that's how we get things done.

And then you have another side that knows that the left is going to give them deference. And so they just use that as a pretense to be able to kind of run roughshod over the government because you've got one side that's already laying down their arms. And so how do you think about that? How do you think about this broader idea of fighting back, especially in light of the fact that for so long, long. Democrats have been looking to figure out, you know, where we can compromise with a party that not only doesn't want compromise, but in fact, wants to completely decimate everything we know about our democracy in pursuit of more consolidation of power for themselves. Yeah, I mean, I think first look, I think it's very clear, and I pitch myself this way.

I think the caucus knows that I'm a fighter. I, you know, I have not been shy about calling out Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Marjor Taylor Green, the worst of the worst. I mean, Donald Trump, you know, sent his Justice Department after me. me, Nancy Mace just try to censure me. I mean, I am not a shrinking violent. I'm pretty fearless in the work we've got to do. And so that's the energy we're going to bring to this committee. And I'm excited that the caucus felt that it was important to put kind of the next generation fighter who is not afraid of communicating in the spaces that we need to be in like what we're doing today to get that message out. So I'm pretty fired up about it. And look, it's not going to

It's not going to happen overnight, but you're going to see this committee is going to be consensual to the argument on Donald Trump's corruption, and certainly as we win back the majority. Excellent. Well, we will leave it there. Robert Garcia, appreciate your time and best of luck as you enter this new journey here as a ranking member of the Oversight Committee. Thank you. Thanks again to Elizabeth Warren, Gavin Newsom, and Robert Garcia. That's it for this episode. Talk to you next week. You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellesie,

and interviews edited for YouTube by Nicholas Nicotera. If you want to support the show, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app and leave a five-star rating in a review. And as always, you can find me at Brian Tyler Cohen on all of my other channels, or you can go to Brian Tyler Cohen.com to learn more.