[0:00]Heads up. >> Heads up. >> We got a new journalist in the room
[0:09]today. >> That's great. We What's What's the new uh journalist's name? >> Kate. Welcome, Kate.
[0:20]>> Yeah. See? >> Well, good morning everybody. So glad to have you here today. This weekend marked six months since President Donald Trump
[0:31]returned to the Oval Office, and boy has it been historic. Together, we have secured the border, restored peace through strength,
[0:42]squashed inflation, supercharged our economy, and delivered on the one big beautiful bill. America is safe, prosperous, and great again. But
[0:54]Democrats continue their dangerous rhetoric that is endangering law enforcement agents. I mean, an officer
[1:02]gets shot at by an illegal alien in New York. Do you think that's a coincidence? Because I don't. It's their policies. It's their rhetoric. You know, my
[1:13]question is, did their policies lead to this rhetoric and all this rhetoric lead to this attack? Ask yourself that. I'll let you be the judge of that. Do you think their
[1:25]policies and their rhetoric hurt law enforcement agents or help them? Just ponder on that for a minute. This week,
[1:35]House Republicans will return home for our annual work pe piece work period. And during this work period, we are going to work with our members to take
[1:46]our message coast to coast. And we're going to make sure that we have the Democrats own their message because we all know they like to weasle out of of their message. And we're going to take
[1:56]our message from Long Island to the suburbs uh of Los Angeles. The American people will hear how the one big beautiful bill will benefit them. We are
[2:07]going to correct the truth with the other half of the truth because all Democrats have right now is fear-mongering. They have no plan, no vision, and no leader. I'm planning to be in my district this week to speak
[2:18]with Michiganders, but I'm also going to be traveling with with some of our frontline members from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. We will visit actual manufacturing facilities where the
[2:30]workers, the American taxpayer will benefit from the one big beautiful bill and we'll be having conversations with that. I'm sure along the way we're going to stop at a few restaurants, maybe get
[2:41]some takeout where their staff um or delivery drivers will enjoy the benefits of no tax on tips. The bottom line is this. The impact of the one big
[2:52]beautiful bill will be felt positively everywhere and working families, their bottom lines will be increased.
[3:04]Imagine how Democrat district visits are going to go. That's if they stay in their own districts. But remind the Democrats. The Democrats voted against securing the border. Remember that? They
[3:15]said, "What? Biden said we we can't do we can't do that." No, we just needed a president who actually could do that. So remind the Democrats, remind the Democrats that it's the Republicans who
[3:26]are actually unleashing American energy. You know, putting money back into our economy, making us energy independent
[3:36]again. expanding the child credit tax credit. And you have hear all that fear-mongering about, oh, the rural hospitals are going to shut down. We
[3:47]actually created a rural hospital fund that can actually the monies go to these hospitals. They don't have all this bureaucracy in between. Wow, that's a solution for a change. But you won't
[3:58]hear the Democrats talk about that. Generational investments. We made generational investments in our national security. No tax on overtime. No tax on
[4:07]tips. Every single Democrat voted to kill millions of jobs. Give federal benefits to those who never should
[4:17]receive those benefits before. Remember, the Democrats are making sure that Medicaid is not there for the people who need it most by allowing the waste, the
[4:27]fraud, the abuse to actually continue and to give it to illegals over Americans who need it more than anything. And take those thousands of
[4:37]paychecks from hardworking Americans. Remember, they increased they voted to increase every single working family's tax rate. I'm so sick and tired of hearing, "Oh my gosh, it's a tax rate
[4:49]for tax rate for the rich." No, it's not. Think about this. This is a fact, and I'm curious if you've asked any of the uh the Democrats this. They voted to
[4:59]raise a taxpayers's income who makes $48,000, which would be in the 12% tax bracket. They voted to raise the tax
[5:08]bracket from 12% to 20 25%. on 40. If you make $48,000, I I don't know any of you think $48,000 is that a tax break for the rich, a tax
[5:19]incentive for the rich. No, you're taking money from workingclass families. Make the Democrats own. Ask them why they voted for the biggest tax increase in history. Ask them why. I don't think
[5:30]these meetings are going to go very well. Now, I hope the Democrats are home and the local press will hold them accountable and to explain why they
[5:40]voted to kill American jobs, especially when they're already somebody who voted no. But notice, every Democrat takes the dough. It's res ridiculous. Ridiculous.
[5:50]And we will continue to bring these fallacies to life. We will continue to correct the truth with the other half of the truth. and the fear-mongering from
[6:00]the Democrats has got to stop now to talk about this and the importance of the one big beautiful bill for people in her district. With me is Congresswoman
[6:09]Jen Kiggins. Thank you. >> Well, thank you so much for including me this morning in your press press conference. I'm Congresswoman Jen Kiggins and I proudly represent Virginia's second district which is home
[6:20]to uh to a large percent of veteran population on the country. We have about 6% of our population who has served in our great military and in my district we
[6:30]have more than twice that about 13%. So I'm here today to talk about the veteran perspective and the wins for the veteran community in the one big beautiful bill. I am a veteran. I served as a Navy helicopter pilot for 10 years of my
[6:41]life. I am married to an F-18 pilot who served for 20 years and I'm also very proudly a Navy mom to a future naval aviator. So uh the people in my district, we are regular everyday
[6:51]Americans. We just put service to country first. And not only if you are a veteran, but if you work with the veteran community and the defense community in my district, the wins in the one big beautiful bill are important
[7:01]to us. We are hardworking. We are business owners. We are small business owners. We are parents. We are moms and dads. We are people who care about community safety. So the wins in this one big beautiful bill from the economy
[7:13]side, the t the extension of the tax breaks, the no tax on tips and overtime, the winds that we know our veterans will feel more in their bank accounts. We're used to living on fixed income like we did in the military. We know that each
[7:24]and every penny counts and how hard we have to work to earn our money. We want to keep more of our paychecks. We want our veterans and all Americans to feel like they have more in their pocketbooks. So, those are the biggest wins for the veteran community. The
[7:36]border security piece is important because we care about community safety and we know that every state is a border state, even Virginia. So, we care about the people that are around our neighborhoods, that are that are around
[7:47]our kids' schools, that are watching our families, that community safety piece is important. And knowing that we have a secure border, knowing that we're not letting people from the terrorist watch list, that that you know, as veterans, we have concerns about who is in our
[7:59]country, who is here to do us harm. But I think most importantly, the biggest wins for a lot of us in the veteran community was that $150 billion defense plus up. So many of us joined and signed
[8:09]up to serve again in our great military for our great country because of the chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan. We saw weakness on the world stage. We saw what it looks like when our country doesn't prioritize peace through
[8:21]strength. The world is a very dangerous place. And now as a military mom really I I care about that issue and so many people in my district, so many of our our children are serving, so many of my
[8:31]neighbors and friends. So for me, that peace through strength piece is the most important piece. And we're seeing Republicans put our money where our mouth is and prioritize quality of life, quality of service initiatives for our
[8:42]military. We're seeing next generation strike fighter funding. We're seeing money for 16 more ships being built. There's $9 billion for quality of life, 29 billion for ship building, 16 billion
[8:53]for shipyards and depot, which we know are in in need of repair, $9 billion for air superiority. We need to prioritize this peace through strength part and that's what this one big bill big
[9:04]beautiful bill does. During the Biden administration we had defense spending at an all-time low. We know that in times of our our greatest peace defense spending is about 5 to 6%. President Trump has not only agreed to do that for
[9:15]our country and for our military but also he's he's encouraging our allies to do that and we're seeing them get on board with that too. So, I can't just emphasize enough the importance uh of of
[9:26]prioritizing defense spending and what this big beautiful bill does for that. You know, as as rep Republicans and as veterans who care about how much money we have, we also want to make sure that we are not wasting money and the
[9:36]programs, the reforms that we've put in place for Medicaid is important. We know that we want to keep that program for people who need it the most. We have plenty of veterans who are disabled, who are Medicaid recipients. I want to make
[9:47]sure that program is there for them. So, the reforms we put in place are so important, but it's certainly a privilege to be able to represent again a district that has one of the largest veteran populations. These are great
[9:57]wins for the American public, great wins for the veteran community, and I'm very proud to be a part of this effort. Thank you so much.
[10:06]>> Great job, J. Over the weekend in New York City, an offduty Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in the face
[10:16]during an attempted robbery by two illegal aliens. These two criminals were allowed into our country by the Biden administration where they both have gone
[10:26]on to commit multiple crimes. Assault, kidnapping, lararseny, and now attempted murder make up their wrap sheet.
[10:35]Senseless, dangerous sanctuary policies put these criminals back on the streets after their numerous arrests, enabling them to wreak havoc on innocent
[10:45]Americans. The damage done by the Biden administration's deliberate open border policies cannot be understated. We are still feeling the consequences of it
[10:55]today. But President Trump, DH Secretary Gnome, and Border Tom Hman are turning the tide. In my state of Minnesota, ICE arrests of illegal aliens have doubled
[11:07]since President Trump took office. And while the local worthless media in my home state tries to spin that is a bad thing, the brave men and women of ICE
[11:17]are getting the worst of the worst illegal aliens off the streets of Minnesota and America, restoring safety and security to our communities. As
[11:27]these officers enforce the laws, they face an 830% increase in assaults. To the ICE agents
[11:36]risking their lives to keep us all safe, thank you to the Border Patrol agents and custom officers securing our border. Thank you. The one big beautiful bill
[11:48]supports their efforts by giving them the tools they need to continue this critical work, including more ICE officers, more border patrol agents,
[11:58]more border wall, and more detention space. These resources strengthen and make permanent the great success that President Trump has already had securing
[12:09]the border and deporting criminal illegal aliens. The one big beautiful bill delivers historic border security wins. It delivers uh historic border
[12:21]security wins and we're all safer for it. With that, the majority leader. Thank you, Whip. Well, it's been a very busy first 6 months working with the
[12:32]Trump administration to deliver critical wins for hardworking families across America. to deliver wins on those issues that we all ran on, the things we said
[12:41]we would do if we got a Republican White House, Republican Senate, and Republican House. And of course, the one big beautiful bill really is the epitome of so many of those victories. But that's
[12:53]not all we've done. Uh the president has already signed or has on his desk 31 different bills that have been passed by the House and Senate on the desk of the
[13:03]president, almost all of which have been signed. into law. After today, maybe all 31 will have been signed into law to continue delivering and getting our country back on track reversing the
[13:15]damage that was done by Joe Biden in four years. Uh what the Democrats did working with Joe Biden, not just to increase inflation, increase interest
[13:25]rates, uh to increase regulations and rules that stifled the ability for small businesses to grow. We've been working hard to reverse all of that. And while
[13:35]we are celebrating all of these wins, we are not tired of winning. And the American people aren't either. That's why this week we still have more bills on the House floor. But we also have a lot of work being done in our
[13:46]committees. The Appropriations Committee this week is taking up three more appropriations bills in full committee. Tom Cole and his members have been doing an incredible job of getting their bills
[13:57]out of committee. The House has already passed over 60% of all government funding over to the Senate. And this week, we're going to see something that hasn't happened in years. The United
[14:08]States Senate is finally taking up a House Appropriations bill. That should be something that's always going on in Congress where you see the House and Senate doing their jobs together. But
[14:20]Chuck Schumer for years refused to participate in an normal appropriations process because he wanted shutdowns. He wanted chaos. It's one of the reasons
[14:30]the Democrats lost the Senate is because the American people didn't want that dysfunction. And John Thun promised there would be a new day in the United States Senate and Leader Thun is
[14:40]delivering on that. And one of those commitments he made is that we would have a normal working appropriations process and they're actually doing that this week, moving the Milcon VA
[14:49]appropriations bill and continuing to move more of the bills that we're sending over from the House. And so as the American people see Washington
[14:58]working for them for a change, we're also going to be going during this district work pe period and explaining to the American people what's been in a lot of those bills because the Democrats
[15:09]have been lying over and over and over again about tax cuts for billionaires. They're talking about uh hospitals closing. Everybody in America is going
[15:18]to die according to every Democrat. And of course, when the American people look at what's in those bills, they're going, "Wait a minute." You know, the waiter and waitress in America who averages
[15:28]$32,000 a year is going to get about $1,700 more dollars in their pockets. That's real money for working people. And every Democrat voted no, you know. So, while they're going back home and
[15:40]explaining and lying about the bills, we're going to start panning out across the country telling the truth about what really is happening in the economy for working families. And we're proud of
[15:51]that. We're not done delivering, but I think it's important that we take some time to talk about what we've already done and delivered as we continue to move more bills. Like I said, a lot of
[16:02]work being done this week in committees. Energy and commerce has taken up the NIL bill. You're seeing judiciary focus on that report. It's been covered pretty well. Uh, but I think there's a lot more
[16:14]to the story about the Russian collusion hoax that started under President Obama and some of those facts are finally starting to come out. You know, it's interesting to see Democrats want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein. All of a
[16:25]sudden, for four years, Democrats hid and covered up the Epstein files. They did. They had it for four years. And Trump's in the courts right now trying
[16:36]to get a lot of that information unsealed so the American public can see it. Uh but we're going to continue pushing for that transparency. Our
[16:45]committees are going to keep working to deliver more results for American families. That's what we've been doing. Uh that's what we're going to continue to do while Democrats just vote no. They
[16:56]hide. They lie. They try to talk about what they would do if they were in power. But of course, everybody knows what they did when they were in power. They moved a far-left socialist agenda.
[17:07]They're about to elect as their new party leader a socialist Marxist mayor of New York City. And half the Democrats, they all want to meet him and take selfies with him. And yet they're not sure if they're going to endorse him
[17:18]or not. But the bottom line is that's where their party has moved in Washington, in New York. But that's not where America is. Republicans are delivering for Americans, for
[17:29]hardworking families, uh, all across the political spectrum. And that's why this economy is finally starting to move in the right direction. our speaker who's never slowed down, who's never accepted
[17:39]failure as an option, the man who continues to work and is so patient, listen to our members and then ultimately delivering with President Trump on this great agenda is our
[17:48]speaker Mike Johnson. Thank all of you. Good morning. Uh thank you, Representative Kiggins doing an extraordinary job for Virginia and uh
[17:58]our military families and and all of the issues she works so hard on. Thank you for all that hard work. Um, I tell you what, uh, it's been an exciting six months. Uh, Sunday, as as you all
[18:09]probably know, marked the first six months of the Trump, uh, presidency, the second term. The 47th president has had an incredible run. We're on a winning streak. America's hot again. We're bringing back strength and prosperity
[18:20]and and and uh, capitalizing, delivering on all the campaign promises that President Trump made on the campaign trail and that all Republicans did uh, by extension. We're really proud of that. And I tell you what, history is
[18:31]going to record this to be one of the most consequential, extraordinary first 6 months of of any administration ever because we have unified government. The voters in this country gave Republicans the chance to
[18:42]turn this mess around and we are. So we have the White House and the Senate and the House and we're using it effectively every single day. And here in the House, we've kept pace with President Trump's extraordinary momentum. He never sleeps
[18:53]and so we don't get to either. Uh we've been codifying his executive orders at a record pace. We're cementing America first policies into law. We're enacting the full scale of the Trump admin uh
[19:04]administration's agenda with the passage of course of the one big beautiful bill. Sort of a capstone of of the first 6 months. And um we've accomplished so much in just that time period. And and I
[19:15]think the key is we've done that with unity. As you all have noticed, it's very deliberate. We work very closely handinand the Senate and House Republicans as one united team. That's kind of an innovation in Washington, but
[19:26]a very important one. And we've demonstrated that that unity is how we deliver. There is no majority in the history of this body that can wield power unless it stands together. And so I work really hard. We all do. This
[19:37]leadership team does every day to keep everybody rowing in the same direction. This morning at our weekly conference meeting, we discussed the upcoming schedule given the uh the Democrats u
[19:46]endless efforts to politicize the uh the Epstein controversy and that whole investigation. I want to be clear about this. Um there there is a reason behind what we are doing here. We have a
[19:57]responsibility, actually a dual responsibility here. Okay? I've been on record very clearly that I believe in maximum transparency. I think every single House Republican will say the same thing. In fact,
[20:09]they've told me that publicly and privately. They they talk about this. We want maximum transparency. We also understand the other part of that duty is that we have to protect innocent
[20:19]victims. Okay? We have to do both things at the same time. What do we mean by that? Look, involved in the Epsteine evil, okay, which is what it was. Let's call it what it was. There there are
[20:30]innocent victims of those unspeakable sex crimes, okay? It Some of them were minors, some of them were not. When when the when the Epstein records are turned
[20:41]over to the public, which we must do as quickly as possible, we have to also be very judicious and careful about protecting the innocent. I think everybody in the country should understand the necessity of that. It is
[20:53]the standard. I used to be a litigator. It's the standard in the court of law and the courts. It's the standard in law enforcement. Anyone who's served in law enforcement understands the necessity of that. It is the standard with government
[21:04]agencies. We protect the innocent. So, we cannot be careless in a in a in an open release like that. You have to be very careful. The president himself has said that he wants maximum maximum
[21:15]transparency and all credible evidence to be turned over to the American public so that everyone can make their own decisions. We're owed that. And we want any individual who has been involved in
[21:24]any way in the Epstein evils to be brought to justice as as quickly as possible and the and the law should be brought down upon their head. We're
[21:33]unequivocal about that. Okay. We we we we have to make sure that the credible evidence is revealed and and we're doing that. president has made a request to the courts in the grand jury uh u
[21:45]testimony and the files there for example and the court should turn that over and that will be a continuing and ongoing quest. Now we what we refuse to do is participate in another one of the
[21:55]Democrats political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ramp. The rules committee became uh the the uh the ground for them to do that. We're not going to allow them to engage
[22:07]in that charade anymore. Or why do I call it a charade? Because the Democrats are trying to play gotcha politics right now when, as the leader just pointed out, they don't have any moral high ground on this at all. They controlled
[22:18]the Department of Justice for the last four years. Has anyone forgotten? They had all these files the entire time. They they they sat on everything Epstein related for four long years while President Biden was in office. You could
[22:29]draw your own conclusions as to why, but we've been intellectually consistent the entire time. And I want to say this about my colleagues Ro Kana and Jim McGovern and Hakee Jeff and so many others. They've tweeted about Epstein
[22:40]countless times in the last two weeks, but go back and look at their social media accounts. We have and their public comments. They had exactly zero posts on the subject for the last four years of
[22:51]the Biden administration. Interesting, isn't it? We all understand that the America first agenda and the American people are best served by putting an end to the Democrat sideshows. And that's
[23:01]what we're doing by not allowing the rules committee to continue with that nonsense this week. As was noted, we've got tons of very important work going on here. Uh the the leader just gave you a small sampling of it, but we're done
[23:12]being lectured on transparency by the same party that orchestrated one of the most shameless, dangerous political coverups in the history of this country or any government on the face of planet Earth. If the Democrats want to talk transparency, I'm happy to rewind the
[23:24]tape. 366 days ago, President Joe Biden was unceremoniously forced off the Democrat ticket. Everybody knows why. Even after millions of Americans had already cast their primary votes for
[23:35]him, the self-proclaimed party of democracy threw out their nominee. The sitting president of the United States for his disastrous debate performance. On the debate stage, President Biden
[23:46]revealed to the American people what Democrats in Congress spent four long years trying to hide. that the president of the United States of America was in rapid mental decline and unable to
[23:57]continue serving as a leader of the free world. I'm going to say that again. The man holding the most powerful office on the face of the earth, who we now know was being propped up by his staff and
[24:07]Democrats in Congress, was in rapid mental decline. It was as shocking as it was dangerous. And they all participated in it. Nearly every single one of the Democrats who shamelessly attempted to
[24:18]pull the wool over our eyes still holds office today. You ought to be chasing them down the hallways asking for their responses on that. We released a 14-minute long video yesterday with just a small sample of the countless receipts
[24:30]of the Democrats at every level spinning this fantastical lie to the American people. I encourage every reporter in this room to go watch that. You ought to use the clips and you ought to go ask them about it. And remember that the
[24:41]same Democrats who lied to us for years are now trying to convince you they stand for transparency. They participated in one of the greatest political scandals in in all of history. and the House Republicans are not going
[24:51]to allow this to be whitewashed from the historical record. We'll continue to investigate and shine light on those who perpetrated this and provide answers directly to the American people. Now, President Biden's mental condition was
[25:01]poor, but his his legacy of achievement in office was was even worse. And I've said many times after those four years of Biden and Harris, every single area of public policy was in a disastrous
[25:11]state. in Congress and the White House. We've been hard at work from day one of this Congress and day one of the Trump administration trying to undo all that damage of the last four years. And we're laying the foundation for what will make
[25:22]our country safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before. The American people gave President Trump a clear mandate to enact his America First agenda, and Republicans answered the
[25:32]call. To date, we've enacted 50 of the president's executive orders. from reigning in bureaucratic waste fraud and abuse to com passing common sense legislation to delivering our once in a generation legislative victories through
[25:43]the one big beautiful bill. Let me give you a quick summary. Americans asked for secure borders and safer communities and Republicans delivered the largest investment in border security and interior enforcement on record. And with
[25:54]the Halt Fentanel Act and the Lake and Riley Act, we're making sure American communities are safe from deadly drugs and illegal aliens that have taken far too many lives. The American people asked us for bigger paychecks and more
[26:05]affordable gas and groceries, and we delivered on that, too. Uh we we we delivered the largest working and middle class tax cut in the history of the United States. And we've torn down bidenary regulations like the California
[26:17]EV mandate. That was just madness and and worked against working families and American energy dominance. The American people demanded fiscal sanity and Republicans delivered again. We passed
[26:28]more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts so the government can begin to live within its means again. All of this is real positive change for American
[26:37]families. The kind that they are going to directly feel in their bank accounts. They're going to see it in their neighborhoods and they're going to count on it for years to come. Any of these individual feats as standalone bills
[26:48]would have been considered historic achievements by any Republican Congress. And we got them all done all together in one big beautiful bill. And the more the American people hear about that bill, the more they like it. There was a
[26:59]Harvard uh Harris poll that recently surveyed the individual titles, the individual pieces of the big bill. And they found that 17 of the 21 major proposals pulled had a majority of
[27:10]support. That's including things like reducing federal spending and imposing common sense work requirements on uh public assistance. But while the American people continue to learn about the bill, they'll also begin to feel its
[27:21]positive effects because we did this on a very aggressive timetable. Uh, as you all know, we put it on an ambitious uh, timeline to be delivered. Uh, many in this room said it wouldn't succeed. You
[27:32]wrote about it. I read all that. That's fine. We said we needed six weeks to craft our house budget resolution, and we passed it in February. We said we'd pass our House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill by Memorial Day, and we
[27:42]beat that deadline by four days. We said we'd pass it through both chambers and get it to the president's desk for signature by July 4th. And what happened? We had a big, beautiful signing ceremony at the White House on
[27:53]Independence Day. It was a historic day and it's a testament to what this House Republican conference can accomplish when we rem remain united and working towards a common goal. Last last thought
[28:03]here on closing note u this is the last leadership press conference before we enter the August district work period around here. People call it the August recess. It is not that. Okay. Okay. So,
[28:13]I I know that uh lots of people in the press corps are going to be able to enjoy some downtime with friends and families and and um we commend you for that, but House Republicans aren't going to get to participate in all that stuff because this month of August is not a
[28:25]vacation. This is arguably the most important work month on our calendar. Why? Because our members go home, they connect with their constituents in person, they ho host roundts with local businesses and organizations, they meet
[28:37]with community stakeholders and local officials. U really really important components of the job. And frankly, they need to cut through the false and misleading claims about the one big beautiful bill from the media and the
[28:47]Democrats. As I mentioned, the more people know, the more they greatly favor uh the bill that we passed. And House Republicans are going to spend the month highlighting how it will positively impact our districts and our
[28:58]communities. Uh with that, I'll take a few questions. >> Mr. Speaker, Chad, >> good morning. You say yesterday that you were in lock step with the administration on the up files, but it doesn't seem that you're in lock step
[29:08]with all of your House Republicans. Thomas Massie just saying in the past hour this is going to come back and and bite Republicans. What do you say to those sisms inside your conference here?
[29:19]>> I say Thomas Massie is the one trying to bite Republicans. Okay. I'm not quite certain what his strategy is, >> but it's just not him. It's it's I mean otherwise you guys wouldn't be calling off the week tomorrow. You'd be able to put your rules on the floor. I understand the issue with the Democrats.
[29:31]>> Yeah. No, I just explained why. We're not going to play political games with this. We've all been very uh clear and transparent. Um the the the uh House rules resolution sets a good standard
[29:42]and uh requires all credible evidence to be uh released and that's exactly where the White House is. There's no as I've said many times over the last what as I've said many times there's no daylight
[29:52]between the White House and the House. You have to allow the legislation to ripen and you also have to allow the administration the space to do what it is doing. The president has said clearly and he has now ordered his DOJ to do
[30:03]what it is we've all needed DOJ to do for years now. and that is to get everything released. So, they're in the process of that. There's there's no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that
[30:14]they're already doing. And so, this is for political games. Um I uh I I I'm I'm very um I'm very resolute on this. We we we can both call for full transparency
[30:26]and also protect victims. And if you run rough shot or you do it too quickly, that's not what happens. Uh but I I'm convinced that the DOJ is going to do uh their job, the administration is going to do their job. and uh and we'll do our
[30:37]job and so we'll we'll see to it. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um just to follow up on that, I know before when you were asked whether or not you would back Mr. Massie for re-election, you
[30:47]didn't give a direct answer. He has some harsh things to say about your leadership yesterday related to the XM files. Have you made up your mind whether or not you would support him or back him against?
[30:59]So, so, so here's the So, as a leader of my party, I lead the incumbent protection program. Okay? Uh, that's my job. I go all around the country. I travel
[31:09]endlessly, incessantly. I have to raise over $300 million to do that. Um, and and we want everybody to come back. And and and some people, um, I try to protect them from themselves, you know.
[31:19]Um, they they kick and scream and bite, uh, their own colleagues. Some people seem to enjoy, uh, uh, in trying to inflict political pain on their own teammates. Um I I'm not going to address
[31:30]anybody individually, but I'll tell you that that some here are much more frustrating than others. There's a small small tiny handful. Uh but one in particular who's given me lots of consternation. I don't understand I don't I don't understand uh Thomas
[31:41]Massiey's motivation. I really don't I don't know how his mind works. I don't know what he's what he's thinking. Thomas Massie could have brought his discharge petition any time over the last four and a half years over the last four years of B administration. He could
[31:51]have done that at any time. And now he's clamoring as if there's some sort of timeline on it. It's interesting to me that he chose the election of of President Trump to bring this to team up with the Democrats and bring this
[32:03]discharge petition. So, do I have some concern about that? I do. But, you know, in me and my way, I try to f I try to follow Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment. Never speak evil of another Republican. My gosh, it's hard to do sometimes around here.
[32:14]>> I also try to follow the scripture. You know, it says, "Bless those who persecute you." So, let me just say about Thomas Massie. Could you just accept my southern bless his heart? Okay. I don't know what else to say about it. We're we're for maximum
[32:25]transparency. We're engaging in that right now and we don't need political games. >> Yes, ma'am. Over here. Yes. >> Wait, wait. I was pointing to her. Go ahead.
[32:36]>> Um, so health insurance companies are requesting 15% increases for next year. Subsidies. Are Republicans thinking
[32:48]about this? Is there any possibility that they will look at those any other things to >> I I think that goes to the end of the calendar year so we'll have discussion
[32:59]about the issue later but it hasn't come up yet I mean but it's on the radar back row. Yes. Thanks. Um two questions. First is did the president or anyone in the administration ask you to delay the
[33:11]resolution until after recess? >> No. No. But I I as you all know I speak to the president multiple times a day on on a typical day. Um often always uh and
[33:22]what I know about the president's heart on this is that he he agrees with everything I've said here today. He wants maximum transparency but he's also very insistent that we do not subject
[33:33]people who have been already been victims of unspeakable crimes uh to further public scrutiny. And it would be a a very dangerous thing to put those
[33:45]people's names out or to do a release of information in a way that is haphazard where they could be easily unmasked. And so you have to be very careful about how you do that. I think we have a moral responsibility to do that. We have a
[33:56]moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody was involved in that. Absolutely. And we're resolved to do it. But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent.
[34:07]And that is that is a a fine needle to thread. And we could all give ourselves easy political cover and come out and do something in a half-hazard fashion, but I would not be able to sleep at night because I know I know our legal
[34:19]responsibility. I understand what the legal standard is, but more than that, the moral standard. Okay? So, we're going to do this and we're going to do it expeditiously. We're going to do do it the right way. What is popular isn't
[34:30]always right and what is right isn't always popular. I had an eighth grade teacher tell me that one time. I carried it with me my whole life. We're going to do the right thing here and the American people at the end will see that we did that uh in the right way and on the
[34:42]right timetable. Yes, sir. Wait, wait, hold on. Wait a second. What' you say? >> Last question. >> Wait, did she say it? >> She did earlier. >> Wait, come up here. I didn't I didn't hear. >> You got to say it loud.
[34:53]>> Stand right here and tell them. Tell them. Last question. >> Last question. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Wait. Over here under the clock. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. >> Yes, sir. >> No, behind you. Right here. Sorry. Go
[35:04]ahead. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Russia is still bombing Ukraine and a lot of Ukrainian civilian people are still dying. Do you consider sanctions
[35:15]on Russia before the 50day period? We we're we were talking about sanctioning Russia, but I think the House and the Senate to agree, the White House having
[35:26]given that deadline of 50 days. Uh we we need to allow the commander-in-chief and the administration and the secretary of defense uh and the Pentagon to do what they're going to do and um and and we'll see how that plays out. But I can tell
[35:37]you the appetite here is that we we've got to bring accountability to Vladimir Putin and and make this war cease. We need peace over there. It's gone on too long. too many innocent people are dying
[35:48]and we don't want further American involvement at this at all in this at all. But I I do think what NATO is doing and and and u our allies around the world uh may be effective. I think we've
[35:59]all had enough of it. We hope it comes to an end soon. But we trust the commander-in-chief. He's restoring peace through strength. This is a big part of that. Thank you all so much.