The Daily Signal - Congressional Budget Fight Looms, Trump Cabinet Picks Who Face Upward Climb, 80 Million People Traveling This Thanksgiving | Nov. 26

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

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Congress has three weeks after Thanksgiving to pass a budget. Will they meet their deadline? I'm Virginia Allen and this is the Daily Signal's top news in 10 for Tuesday, November 26th. Members of Congress are out of session this week. They'll be back in their home states for the Thanksgiving holiday when they return to Washington, D.C., the first week of December. They're only going to have about three weeks before the Christmas break. So what is on the agenda for Congress when they return. Here with us to explain is Heritage Action for America Executive Vice President, Ryan Walker. Ryan, thanks for being back with us today. Thanks for having me on. Okay, so Congress has this deadline of December 20th in order to pass a budget for fiscal year 2025, which actually

began on October 1st, so already a little bit behind. There are rumors floating around about will they actually pass a budget? Is this can going to be kicked further down the road? What are you hearing? Yeah, it's a good question. So, They passed months ago now a continuing resolution which keeps the government funded until the end of December, getting right up to the Christmas holiday season. This is a regular cadence of operations for the Congress. It likes to put itself on a deadline so that they can convince members to vote for whatever the package is inevitably and go home for Christmas and spend time with their families and constituents. So, you know, they'll have three weeks. And the discussion so far, at least from Speaker Johnson and a number of members of the House, is that they'll do another continuing resolution to get to March or some point in

the first quarter so that President Trump, at least in theory, could have his fingerprints on what government funding looks like for the remainder of the fiscal year, which to your point, talking about FY fiscal year 25 funding, it runs out in September. So we'll be almost halfway through the fiscal year when they consider another CR, presumably in March. Okay. So when they hit that point, likely in March, but maybe by some wild series of events, maybe they do try and tackle it sooner. What are the sticking points going to be? Yeah, I think overall there will be an effort to try to implement or get running on Trump's agenda.

And so they're going to want to do that in the first 100 days, which means, a lot of legislating, a lot of votes, a lot of things to get passed and get started and committee hearings to have and markups and committees to hold and things like that. So there will be there will be a lot of activity. And I think the question is, in March, do they have enough time to be able to implement an agenda and work on things like reconciliation while also dealing with government funding? A lot of the antagonists or the folks who are against the strategy point to history. And they say that, you know, you know, you get bogged down in the government funding fights that, especially if something were to

occur in March, which would drag out the ability to get reconciliation done. That may be true, but the opposite may also be true. It may be true that they can walk and chew gum at the same time. Now, this is Congress, so, you know, don't give them too much credit because I think the institution has not demonstrated its ability to do that in the past. But there is certainly, and ability. Lots to watch. Heritage Action Executive Vice President Ryan Walker. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me on. President-elect Donald Trump has announced most of his cabinet picks. Some of his choices are even receiving some favorable feedback from Democrats, while others are going to face a very steep upward climb in their confirmation by the Senate. Here with us to discuss is the Daily Signal's

politics editor, Bradley, DeVille and Bradley. Thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. So, Bradley, you have been tracking Trump's cabinet picks very closely. The big news last week, of course, was Gates withdrawing his name from consideration as Attorney General, then Trump, Pam Bondi. She's received pretty favorable responses from, definitely from Republicans and also from some Democrats. So she looks like she's going to be confirmed. But who would you say faces the toughest confirmation fight? Is it probably Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense?

and Tulsi Gabbard for National Intelligence? I think Pete Hagseth faces a tough confirmation hearing just because there's a lot of dirty laundry that's going to be aired that I think Pete Hedges says would rather keep private. Nevertheless, this sexual assault allegation was investigated and never charged. That is something that the Republicans on Capitol Hill

can point to and say, look, this was thoroughly investigated. Any sort of civil payment was to prevent any sort of further legal action by this individual. And we can just move forward with Pete Hedgef as defense secretary. What makes me angry, Virginia, as you know, I was a supporter of the Gates nomination, is that this was something that was extended to Pete Hedgef by Republicans in the Senate, and it wasn't extended to Matt Gates. Right? The DOJ under President Joe Biden investigated Matt Gates and the allegations made against him and decided not to prosecute. This is a DOJ that's not afraid to prosecute its political enemies. So that frustrated me, though I think Pan Bondi is a

good replacement for Matt Gates. I just don't know if she's going to be as aggressive because who else in Washington is more aggressive than Matt Gates? As for Tulsi Gabbard, I mean, you can easily see Republicans in the Senate rebuffing Tulsi Gabbard floating around that she was, you know, on a no-fly list by the TSA. And I mean, any Republicans saying that at this point just doesn't know what time it is. I think, it'll be a message to the base that these people need to be politely asked to retire if they can't see how government has been weaponized against the American people. And sadly, I mean, Virginia, this is part of the whole problem is that the legislature has

been complicit in the weaponization of federal government against the American people, Democrats and Republicans. Okay. So, Bradley, what about those shoe-in picks that are candidates that have been tapped that even Democrats seem pretty pleased about? Yeah, I mean, there's a few that come to mind. And I think Marco Rubio has a lot of respect in the Senate period. I don't think he'll have much difficulty getting through the nomination process. It's also nice when you have a senator

sitting there trying to become Secretary of State because he has rapport with the individuals inside of the Senate. The Senate wanted to pass Ukraine funding, et cetera. And Matt Gates was a massive impediment to that, if you recall this Congress. And so they weren't going to extend those those fuzzy feelings to Matt Gates, a member of the house. Lots to watch in the coming weeks and months. The Daily Signal's Bradley, Devlin, Bradley. Thanks for your time. Thank you.

If you are traveling this Thanksgiving, you are in good company. The AAA estimates that a record, nearly 80 million Americans, are traveling this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. The majority are going to be driving. AAA predicts that 71.7 million people are traveling by car this Thanksgiving. that's 1.3 million more than last year. The good news is that gas prices are a little bit lower than they were at this point last year. The national average right now is about $3 a gallon.

The airlines are also bracing for record numbers. AAA predicts that 5.84 million people are flying domestically in the days around Thanksgiving. And TSA is preparing themselves for the busiest travel season in its history. They expect about 3 million people to pass through airports on Sunday alone. A quick reminder for those flying that liquids have to be in containers that are 3.4 ounces or less. And further complicating travel for those flying, the Associated Press reports that some workers at Charlotte's Airport went on strike this week to demand higher pay. These are workers who clean airplanes, remove trash, and help with wheelchairs at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. About 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other means besides car or plane,

means like buses, trains, or taking a cruise. Now let's hit our news flash for the day. Speaking of Thanksgiving, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is going to air on NBC from about 8.30 a.m. to noon on Thursday morning. And if you don't have cable, you can also stream it on Peacock. A little fun fact about the parade, it started exactly 100 years ago in 1924. But the parade will not be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year because the parade did not take place in 1942, 43, or 44 due to World War II. And for our NFL fans out there, the Chicago Bears are going to play the Detroit Lions at 12.30 p.m. Eastern on Thanksgiving Day. And the New York Giants will face the Dallas Cowboys at 4.30 p.m. Eastern.

A quick announcement before we let you go, there is going to be no top news tomorrow or for the rest of the week. as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. But in lieu of top news tomorrow, I am so pleased to be sitting down with Heritage Foundation Research Fellow in Nuclear Deturins and Missile Defense, Robert Peters, as we have an in-depth conversation

about the latest weaponry that's being used in the war between Russia and Ukraine. We discussed the likelihood of nuclear war, and if World War III is being thrown around a little bit too lightly. Make sure you catch that conversation on Wednesday afternoon here. on the Daily Signal podcast. And if you have a minute, make sure you leave us a five-star rating and

review. We love hearing your feedback. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on brand new shows. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. Safe Travels if you're driving over Thanksgiving. And if you're listening to us on that drive home or to see relatives for Thanksgiving, thanks for making us a part of your holiday week. Happy Thanksgiving.