The Daily Signal - Budget Reconciliation Debate, Trump-Musk Interview, AP’s Oval Office Ban | Feb. 19, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Black Friday is here at IKEA and the clock is taking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials, all the little and big things you need to make this season shine. But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca.com slash Black Friday. IKEA, bring home to life. Senate Republicans are moving ahead with a critical vote this week to fund President Donald Trump's agenda. I'm your host, Rob Lewy, and this is the Daily Signal, Top News, and 10 for Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Senate Majority Leader John Thune says it's time to act on a budget resolution bill that provides funding to secure the border, rebuild America's defenses, and promote domestic energy production. The Senate Republican leader announced his decision to move forward, with a two-bill strategy while the House of Representatives is away from Washington on a week-long recess. Now, this is at odds with the preferred approach of President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, who would rather pass one big, beautiful bill given the narrow Republican majority in the House. But by going first, Thune is prioritizing border security, defense, and energy and opting to return later in 2025 to renew the expiring Trump tax cuts. Using budget reconciliation allows Republicans to avoid a Democrat filibuster in the Senate,

Starting point is 00:01:36 and that means it would require just 50 votes to pass the bill. There are currently 53 Republican senators. It's unclear if the House will take up the Senate's first of two budget reconciliation bills. Shortly after Thune's announcement, Johnson wrote on X that the House budget resolution implements President Trump's full America First agenda, not just parts of it with promises to come back later for the rest. Johnson has an even narrower margin in the House with just a one-vote Republican majority before special elections are held to refill his ranks later this year. When the Senate begins its debate on the budget reconciliation bill this week, it will use an hours-long voterrama process to consider amendments.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer has indicated he will use the debate to portray Republicans as defender of tax cuts for wealthy Americans while cutting services for those who rely on Medicaid. The Heritage Foundation's Richard Stern is the co-author of a new report this week called Budget Reconciliation Priorities for the 119th Congress. So Richard, let me ask you this. What should Congress prioritize for budget reconciliation? Well, thanks for having me on. And they should absolutely prioritize both the border money, the interior immigration money, and defense money that is in both the House framework and the Senate framework. We, of course, would also like to see an extension of the tax cuts. Trump, of course, during the campaign called for more tax cuts on top of that, which we would support.

Starting point is 00:03:04 But the other really, really crucial part of this is that we need to cut spending in reconciliation. We need to dismantle the deep state. That also means producing a pathway towards fully dismantling the Department of Education as well. And these are some of the other things that can be done in reconciliation. And from our standpoint, if we do some of that, but we do not take this opportunity to start dismantling those parts of the deep state of government spending, then we will never solve the debt and inflation crisis that is rifling through Americans' pocketbook. Excellent point, Richard.

Starting point is 00:03:40 And in light of President Trump's Truth Social Post today, what are the pros and cons between one bill or two bills, as it seems the Senate and House have maybe a slightly different approach in terms of how they're going to tackle this issue? Well, it's definitely become a tale of two congressional chambers. So the important thing here is that the Senate resolution, as you brought up, focuses purely on the border and defense money and, in fact, would allow for more spending in both border and defense priorities than the House bill. The House bill opens up the pathway for $4.5 trillion or even more of tax cuts, so enough to extend the Trumpy tax cuts of TCJA, where the Senate bill would close off that pathway. And again, as you had said,

Starting point is 00:04:28 open it up for a second bill to do tax cuts. However, the most important key thing that the debate is over, which is not what's being said in public, is that the Senate bill would require only maybe $3 billion, almost nothing, in spending cuts, to allow for those investments in border and defense policies. The House framework, on the other hand, would require at least, least $1.5 trillion of spending cuts in order to unlock the framework for both tax cuts and for those investments in border and defense policy. Wow, it's big decisions ahead. Thank you, Richard, for that analysis and insight. We appreciate it. We'll be closely following this debate along with you, and we'll be sure to include a link to your new report in our show notes today.

Starting point is 00:05:14 Thank you for your time. And thank you for having me on. President Trump and Elon Musk sat down for a joint interview with Fox News as Sean Hannity last night to talk about the Department of Government Efficiency and the Left's efforts to sow division between the two men. With the United States debt now over $36 trillion, Musk is looking for areas to reduce spending across the federal government. He said Doge has a target of cutting $1 trillion. The overall goal is to try to get a trillion dollars out of the deficit. And if the deficit is not brought under control, America will go bankrupt. This is a very important thing for people to understand. A country is no different from an individual,

Starting point is 00:05:55 in that if an individual overspends, an individual can go bankrupt, and so can a country. And the massive waste toward an abuse that has been going on, which is leading to a $2 trillion a year deficit, that's what the president was handed on Gen 20. The $2 trillion deficit, it's insane. There were also some lighter moments during the year. interview, like the lax dress code of Musk's Doge staffers.

Starting point is 00:06:21 With his hundred geniuses, he's got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him, actually. They dress in just t-shirts. You wouldn't know they have 180. The two joked about Musk's desire to visit the planet Mars. He's going to go into orbit soon. No, he's going to go to Mars. At some point.

Starting point is 00:06:41 At some point. He was in over-off. They said, they were asking, like, do you want to die on Mars? And I say, well, yes, but not on impact. Starlink is in 100 countries. This is going to be hard. I feel like I'm interviewing two brothers here. And finally, here's Musk talking about why he loves Trump so much.

Starting point is 00:06:59 I know. I love the president. I think President Trump is a good man. And he's, you know. It's nice the way he said that, you know. It's something nice about. It really is. You know, because, I mean, the president has been so unfairly attacked in the media.

Starting point is 00:07:16 It's really outrageous. And at this point, spent a lot of time with the president. And not once have I seen him do something that was mean or cruel or wrong. The interview is available to watch on foxnews.com or its YouTube channel. President Trump banished the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force won over a dispute on the newly renamed Gulf of America. Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. upon taking office last month. Days later, the Associated Press announced that it would refer to the body of water by its original name

Starting point is 00:07:54 while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. The AP has defended its decision, even as its White House reporter has lost access to the Oval Office and Air Force One, but not his credentials. Two years ago, you might remember that the Daily Signal had its credentials revoked by the Biden White House, along with 440 other media outlets, only after Trump, Trump took office again in January, were our credentials restored? Now, this debate over the AP's access appears to be bigger than just the Gulf of America. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowicz told Axios,

Starting point is 00:08:30 this is about AP weaponizing language through their stylebook to push a partisan worldview. It's one of the reasons why at the Daily Signal we have our own style guide and will make independent decisions about what words we choose to use in our podcast, stories, and videos. Today's news flash is up next. At Desjardin, we speak business. We speak startup funding and comprehensive game plans. We've mastered made-to-measure growth and expansion advice, and we can talk your ear-off about transferring your business when the time comes.

Starting point is 00:09:02 Because at Desjardin business, we speak the same language you do. Business. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us, and contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk. Business. Tensions between President Trump and Ukrainian leader Voldemir Zelensky escalated today following a meeting between Russian officials and Trump's team in Saudi Arabia.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Writing on truth social, Trump called Zelensky a modestly successful comedian whose country has spent $350 billion from U.S. taxpayers on a war that couldn't be won and that never had to start. Trump wrote, a dictator without elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia, something all admit only Trump and the Trump administration can do. In another truth social post, President Trump says he is firing all U.S. attorneys hired by his

Starting point is 00:10:03 predecessor. Trump wrote that over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of all remains. Biden-era U.S. attorneys. We must clean house immediately and restore confidence. America's golden age must have a fair justice system. That begins today. Earlier this week, Trump named Ed Martin as his pick for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin had been serving in an interim capacity. He is the former president of Phyllish-Slafly Eagles. Kelly Leffler was confirmed

Starting point is 00:10:37 by the Senate today to be administrator of the Small Business Administration. That sets the stage for a vote on Cash Patel to serve as the next FBI director. The Senate has now confirmed 18 of Trump's nominees well ahead of paced for the last three presidential administrations. The conservative political action conference starts tomorrow on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and Vice President J.D. Vance is slated to kick off the event. As is his usual custom, President Trump is expected to close out CPAC on Saturday afternoon. The Daily Signal will have a spot on Meteor Row throughout CPAC. And if you're attending, please stop by to say hello to us. We'd love to see you and visit with our listeners.

Starting point is 00:11:20 And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to Top News & 10. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on new episodes each weekday. Plus our weekend deep dive edition. Each morning, you'll get Victor Davis Hanson's latest commentary in your feet as well. At just five minutes, it's a quick way to get his take on current events. Today's episode was produced by John Pop. Thanks again for listening and have a great night.

Starting point is 00:11:44 You know.

The Daily Signal - Budget Reconciliation Debate, Trump-Musk Interview, AP’s Oval Office Ban | Feb. 19, 2025

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